title: Development and application of a novel histological multichrome technique for clam histopathology.
abstract: A novel and expedient histological tetrachrome technique was developed and applied to whole-body sections of the clam Ruditapes decussatus (L. 1758). The technique involves fixation in Carnoy's fluid followed by immediate embedding in paraffin with staining with a combination of Alcian Blue, Periodic Acid-Schiff's, Haematoxylin and Picric Acid. Fixation and staining was perfect for all tissues and resolved good identification of Perkinsus sp. infection and high structural detail. Among the surveyed fixatives, Bouin-Hollande's fluid also provided good results, however, fixation is potentially longer, polysaccharide staining was less intense and fibres appeared to be better preserved by Carnoy's.
authors.affiliation: IMAR - Instituto do Mar, Departamento de Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal. pmcosta@fct.unl.pt
authors.forename: Pedro M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Maria H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Costa
mesh_terms: D056893:Alveolata / Q000166:cytology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000469:parasitology; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D016707:Tissue Fixation