Why is ethylene blue or iodine necessary when preparing the

Why is ethylene blue (or iodine) necessary when preparing the cheek cell slide? Why it not used for the slide? Describe the shape of the plant cell. The light microscope used in the lab is not powerful enough to view all organelles within the cell. List the organelles that were visible. Describe the shape of the cheek cell. What organelles of the cell were visible? List visible similarities and differences between plant and animal cells. What observations support the claim that plant and animal cells are eukaryotic?

Solution

Methylene blue is commonly used when staining human cheek cells. the case of the human cheek cell, methylene blue causes the DNA in the nucleus to stand out so that the nucleus can clearly been seen in a light microscope. Methylene blue is used when specimen is transparent, such as onion skin or check cells, stain should be added to increase contrast but in case of elodea specimen they already appear geegeen because of chlorophyll pigment so they no need of methylene blue.