DNA dyes stain deoxyribonucleic acid for laboratory purposes such as detection and quantification. Many DNA dyes also bind to RNA and could be more broadly described as nucleic acid stains. Common dyes included ethidium bromide (EtBr), especially for agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA. DNA gel electrophoresis using agarose is a common tool in molecular biology laboratories, allowing separation of DNA fragments by size. After separation, DNA is visualized by staining.
Thiazole orange compares favorably to common staining methods in that it is sensitive, inexpensive, excitable with UV or blue light (to prevent sample damage), and safer than ethidium bromide.
Thiazole orange is known to interact with DNA and produce significant fluorescence which can be used to visualize DNA in electrophoresis gels.
Thiazole orange powder can dissolve completely without precipitating in several solvents except water.
This protocol covers the steps involved in making a 10000x stock DNA gel stain using Thiazole orange dye powder.
This protocol also covers the steps involved in using the 10000x stock to prepare a 1.3ug/ml final concentration of gel stain required to visualize DNA bands on an agarose gel.
The solvent used for this protocol is DMSO.