Q-banding stain

Q-band·ing stain

a fluorescent stain for chromosomes that produces specific banding patterns for each pair of homologous chromosomes; centromeric regions of human chromosomes 3, 4, and 13 are specifically stained, as are satellites of some acrocentric chromosomes and the end of the long axon of the Y chromosome; banding patterns are similar to those obtained with G-banding stain; similar fluorescent stain results are seen with the antibiotics adriamycin and daunomycin, as well as tertiary dyes (for example, butyl proflavine and DAPI), and the bisbenzimidazole dye Hoechst 33258.

Synonym(s): quinacrine chromosome banding stain

Q-band·ing stain

(band'ing stān)

A fluorescent stain for chromosomes that produces specific banding patterns for each pair of homologous chromosomes; the acridine dye derivative quinacrine hydrochloride or other derivatives such as quinacrine mustard dihydrochloride produce a green-yellow fluorescence at pH 4.5 in chromosome segments rich in constitutive heterochromatin with deoxyadenylate-deoxythymidilate (A-T) bases of DNA; centromeric regions of human chromosomes 3, 4, and 13 are specifically stained, as are satellites of some acrocentric chromosomes and the end of the long arm of the Y chromosome.