Propidium Iodide

Product name:Propidium Iodide

CAS:25535-16-4

Molecular formula: C27H34I2N4

Product description:Propidium iodide (or PI) is an intercalating agent and a fluorescent molecule with a molecular mass of 668.4 Da that can be used to stain cells. When excited with 488 nm wavelength light, it fluoresces red. Propidium iodide is used as a DNA stain for both flow cytometry to evaluate cell viability or DNA content in cell cycle analysis and microscopy to visualise the nucleus and other DNA containing organelles. It can be used to differentiate necrotic, apoptotic and normal cells.A typical use of propidium iodide in plant biology is to stain the cell wall. Especially useful for Arabidopsis thaliana seedling root tissue observed by confocal microscopy, it increases visibility of the outlines of cells in the root tip. This red fluorescent background is useful to determine the sub-localization of a gene of interest expressed as a Green Fluorescent Protein fusion.