Plant Pathology: Extension: Plant Disease Library

The same procedure for making a wet mount slide is used for making a slide with stain, except that the stain is used instead of water. Stains are used to view fungal structures within plant tissue such as roots. Acid fuchsin (pink stain) is the primary stain we use. All fungal structures will be stained pink with acid fuchsin.

1. Place a droplet of acid fuchsin stain on a glass slide.
2. Using a tweezer, pull off small sections of an infected root and place pieces in the stain droplet. For turf, cut grass blades into small sections, place sections into stain and macerate with razor blade.
3. Cover droplet with a glass cover slip. Place edge of cover slip against droplet and gently let the slip fall over the stain.
4. Remove air bubbles and crush roots by tapping cover slip with the blunt end of a dissecting needle or scalpel.
5. Let slide sit for several minutes before viewing to allow the stain to penetrate fungal structures.