Staining Streptomyces Scabies in Lesions of Common Scab of Potato

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Abstract
Toluidine blue can be used to stain Streptomyces scabies distinctively in slide cultures or in the lesions of common potato scab. This staining method is based on the metachromaticism of volutin, a constant constituent of the spores and mycelium of S. scabies. Either sections or smears are fixed in FPA (formalin, 5 parts; propionic acid, 715; 50% alcohol, 87.5), stained in a 1:100 dilution of saturated aqueous toluidine blue from 20 minutes to 24 hours, dehydrated in an acetone-xylene series and mounted. Cellular constituents of the potato tuber stain blue or are colorless whereas the mycelium of Streptomyces appears as a series of red volutin spheres in the blue stained cytoplasm. The criteria of volutin and cytoplasmic staining along with the 1[mu] diameter of the mycelium make it possible to distinguish Streptomyces from the other micro-organisms and cells in the lesion region.

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