Editing Prophase (section)

== Staining and microscopy ==
[[Microscopy]] can be used to visualize condensed [[chromosome]]s as they move through [[meiosis]] and [[mitosis]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Plant Cytogenetics | edition = Third| vauthors = Singh RJ |publisher=CBC Press, Taylor & Francis Group|year=2017|isbn=9781439884188|location=Boca Raton, FL|pages=19}}</ref>

Various DNA [[Staining|stains]] are used to treat cells such that condensing [[chromosome]]s can be visualized as the move through prophase.<ref name=":6" />

The [[Giemsa stain|giemsa]] [[G banding|G-banding]] technique is commonly used to identify [[mammal]]ian [[chromosome]]s, but utilizing the technology on [[plant cell]]s was originally difficult due to the high degree of chromosome compaction in plant cells.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Wang HC, Kao KN |date=1988|title=G-banding in plant chromosomes|journal=Genome|volume=30|pages=48–51|via=ResearchGate|doi=10.1139/g88-009|s2cid=83823255 }}</ref><ref name=":6" /> [[G banding|G-banding]] was fully realized for plant chromosomes in 1990.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kakeda K, Yamagata H, Fukui K, Ohno M, Fukui K, Wei ZZ, Zhu ES | title = High resolution bands in maize chromosomes by G-banding methods | journal = Theoretical and Applied Genetics | volume = 80 | issue = 2 | pages = 265–72 | date = August 1990 | pmid = 24220906 | doi = 10.1007/BF00224397 | s2cid = 6600449 }}</ref> During both [[Meiosis|meiotic]] and [[Mitosis|mitotic]] prophase, [[giemsa stain]]ing can be applied to cells to elicit [[G banding|G-banding]] in [[chromosome]]s.<ref name=":0" /> Silver staining, a more modern technology, in conjunction with [[Giemsa stain|giemsa staining]] can be used to image the [[synaptonemal complex]] throughout the various stages of [[Meiosis|meiotic]] prophase.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pathak S, Hsu TC | title = Silver-stained structures in mammalian meiotic prophase | journal = Chromosoma | volume = 70 | issue = 2 | pages = 195–203 | date = January 1979 | pmid = 85512 | doi = 10.1007/bf00288406 | s2cid = 27763957 }}</ref> To perform [[G banding|G-banding]], [[chromosome]]s must be fixed, and thus it is not possible to perform on living cells.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sumner AT | title = The nature and mechanisms of chromosome banding | journal = Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 59–87 | date = May 1982 | pmid = 7049353 | doi = 10.1016/0165-4608(82)90022-x }}</ref>

[[Fluorescence microscope|Fluorescent stains]] such as [[DAPI]] can be used in both live [[Plant cell|plant]] and [[Cell (biology)|animal cells]]. These stains do not band [[chromosome]]s, but instead allow for DNA probing of specific regions and [[gene]]s. Use of [[Fluorescence microscope|fluorescent microscopy]] has vastly improved [[spatial resolution]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = de Jong H | title = Visualizing DNA domains and sequences by microscopy: a fifty-year history of molecular cytogenetics | journal = Genome | volume = 46 | issue = 6 | pages = 943–6 | date = December 2003 | pmid = 14663510 | doi = 10.1139/g03-107 }}</ref>