Hola Histonetters, I have been using Picrosirius Red stains on lifted archaeological reidues with great results. However I have a few questions. When I have mixed slides that have bone,muscle and plant material everything takes up the stain which I am presuming is normal and it is only the collagen fibers that change colour in cross polarised light.Is this correct that everything takes up the stain? On slides that have just seed products the slide residue does not fluoresce like the muscle tissue but it still glows slightly. I assume this is due to the properties of plant? However I have found that lignin when it takes up the dye turns yellow and displays pleochroism and birefringence (bright yellow)in cross polarised light. Has anyone ever used this dye for plant products or have any comments re these observations. Also some of the experimental slides with meat smears on them tend to glow bright red in cross polarised light but not yellow or orange...any thoughts? Again I am trying to differentiate plant and animal residues on the one slide preferably as easily as possible, however these residues are lifted from archaeological tools thousands of years old....very ancient CSI type work. Thanks
Birgitta Stephenson, Archaeology Microscopy Research Lab University of Queensland -- Birgitta Stephenson bstep...@fastmail.fm -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Does exactly what it says on the tin _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet