A carmine-Giemsa staining technic for meiotic prophase chromosomes of the genus Beta L.

For a detailed study of chromosome morphology in meiotic prophase stages of Beta species, a special double staining technic has been developed. It consists of combined maceration-staining in an ethanol-hydrochloric acid-carmine mixture followed by poststaining of the squashed material in a diluted Giemsa solution. The technic yields well-spread prophase meiotic nuclei showing detailed structures both in weaker stained chromosome segments and in threadlike chromatin structures. This technic proved to be especially favorable for stages which are difficult to interpret, such as pachytene, schizotene and diffuse stages.