Question

what is phylogenetic stains?

Answer 1

Phylogenetic stains are ribosomal RNA based probes for identification of single cells.

Formaldehyde fixed , intact cells were hybridized with fluorescently labelled oligonucleotides that are complementary to 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA). These can be viewed by fluorescence microscope.

Phylogenetic classification is achieved by using oligonucleotide fragments of length 17 to 34 nucleotides which are complementary to 16S rRNA.

Appropriate probes can distinguish between primary kingdoms i.e. eukaryotes, eubacteria, archaebacteria and even between closely related organisms.