title: Quinacrine and acridine-R banding without a fluorescence microscope.
abstract: A technique is described in which a standard fluorescence microscope equipped with a high-pressure mercury lamp is replaced with an ordinary laboratory microscope fitted with a quartz-iodine lamp. A dark field condenser and a set of three filters, including an FITC interference filter, complete a 'fluorescence' microscope. The microscope has proved itself satisfactory in the study of Y-chromatin, chromosome Q-bands including Q-polymorphism, and acridine-R band. It is very easy to operate and does not emit ultraviolet light, which might harm operators. Total cost of the quartz-iodine lamp's outfit, filters, and a dark-field condenser is much less than that of a standard fluorescence microscope. The cost is especially low when a laboratory microscope with a quartz-iodine lamp is already at hand. Spectrofluorometric studies of QM and Q indicate that the present system will show even better performance if an interference filter with a transmission range of about 400 to 440--450 nm is designed and used in combination with a 455--475 nm barrier filter.
mesh_terms: D000166:Acridines; D002875:Chromosomes; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D011796:Quinacrine; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014998:Y Chromosome
chemical_list: D000166:Acridines; D011796:Quinacrine