SYTO™ 59 Red Fluorescent Nucleic Acid Stain - 5 mM Solution in DMSO

The binding mode of SYTO nucleic acid stains is unknown. However, the behavior of these and related nucleic acid dyes suggests the following binding properties:

1.They appear to contact the solvent (suggested by sensitivity to salt, divalent cations, and in particular, SDS) and thus are likely to have contacts in the grooves.
2.All SYTO dyes appear to show some base selectivity and are thus likely to have minor groove contacts.
3.They can be removed from nucleic acid via ethanol precipitation; this characteristic is not shared by ethidium bromide and other intercalators. Likewise, the dyes are not removed from nucleic acid via butanol or chloroform extraction. These extraction methods do remove ethidium bromide from nucleic acid. 4. SYTO binding is not affected by nonionic detergents.
5. SYTO dyes are not quenched by BrdU, so they do not bind nucleic acids in precisely the same way as Hoechst 33342 and DAPI ((4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole).

SYBR Green I has shown little mutagenicity on frameshift indicator strains, indicating that it isn't likely to strongly intercalate.

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SYTO 9 dye is one good choice for green; it is similar to fluorescein in excitation and emission wavelength. SYTO 59 dye is a good choice for red; it is similar to Texas Red. Both dyes are cell-permeant and stain DNA well, resulting in good nuclear labeling in live cells. With too high a concentration of dye and/or too long an incubation time, both may also label RNA, resulting in cytoplasmic and nucleolar staining, particularly with SYTO 59 dye.

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