Propidium Iodide Staining of Drosophila Embryos
This protocol was adapted from “Fluorescent Analysis of Drosophila Embryos,” Chapter 9, in Drosophila Protocols (eds. Sullivan et al.). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2000.INTRODUCTION
Drosophila embryos can be stained with specific fluorescent probes or antibodies through either direct or indirect immunofluorescence. In particular, several effective probes exist for visualizing DNA. Propidium iodide (PI), a stain commonly used to visualize nucleic acids, is added directly to the mounting medium. Before staining with PI, the embryos must be treated with RNase to remove the RNA. This protocol presents methods for staining Drosophila embryos with PI, as well as for the subsequent mounting and storage of samples.
