Astra Blue and Basic Fuchsin Double Staining of Plant Materials

Methods for double staining plant materials using astra blue and basic fuchsin are described here. These methods can be applied to free hand and microtome sections embedded in paraffin, paraplast or historesin. Also, they can be used to study isolated epidermal peels and pollen preparations. Temporary, semipermanent and permanent preparations were studied. Astra blue stained polysaccharides of the cell wall such as cellulose and pectins. Basic fuchsin showed an affinity for lignified, suberized or cutinized walls. The easy preparation of the reagents, excellent color contrast of the histological preparations, and brief staining times of some methods makes them useful for both routine research and didactic purposes. Also, excellent color or black and white photomicrography can be obtained after the double staining described here.