Feulgen reaction

Stacey also initiated a study of the widely used Dische and Feulgen staining methods. When he commenced his investigations, knowledge of the chemical basis of the tests was limited, although there was extensive literature on applications of the Feulgen reaction. 

Feulgen reaction, 13 Fischer, Emil, contributions to nomenclature, 48... 

Staining can be achieved by standard procedures utilizing acetic-orcein, Giemsa stain, or the Feulgen reaction. 

As early as 1901, Ciardina described the presence of a specially stainable chromatin body in oogonia and oocytes of the water beetle Dytiscus, later on to become known as the Giardinas body. About 30 years later, Bauer (1933) proved by the use of the Feulgen reaction that the Giardina s body contains a large amount of DNA. The occurrence of the extrachromosornal DNA is now well established for many insect species (see Table II). 

The quantitative estimation of DNA by photometry has been extensively studied, usually with the Feulgen reaction. Much progress has been made in this direction 103). Ultraviolet absorption also has been used for the... 

Preliminary experiments in our laboratory have indicated a disturbance in the functional activity of splenic cells from pantothenic acid-deficient rats immunized with diphtheria toxoid. In studies conducted in collaboration with Dr. Abram Stavitsky it was shown that splenic cells from immunized pantothenic acid-deficient rats, in contrast to those from normal immunized rats, were unable to fabricate antibody when cultured in vitro or when passively transferred to normal rats. In co-operation with Dr. Cecile Leuchtenberger evidence was obtained that the mean deoxyribonucleic acid content of isolated splenic nuclei from immunized pantothenic acid-deficient rats was lower than that of comparable controls. Deoxyribonucleic acid was determined by microspectrophotometric analysis of the Feulgen reaction (Leuchtenberger et al, 1951). These results may be interpreted to mean that the deficiency interfered with the acceleration of cellular division which normally accompanies antibody production in the spleen. Since cellular division is always preceded by an increase in deoxyribonucleic acid content, the direct participation of pantothenic acid in deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis becomes an intriguing possibility. 

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