title: Sex chromatin staining in amnion cells.
abstract: INTRODUCTIONThe procedure described here provides a quick and reliable method for determining the sex of mouse embryos that are <12.5 days post-coitum (dpc). Cells from amniotic membranes are stained with toluidine blue. The presence of a heavily stained condensed chromatin body (i.e., a Barr body) indicates the XX samples. With experience, we find a >95% concordance with genotyping data based on PCR for Y-chromosome sequences in extracted tail DNA. This protocol has the advantage of speed and efficiency: When assembling cultures with live tissue, samples can be sexed in 30 min.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Blanche
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Capel
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Batchvarov