Question:easy
Which of the following stains is used to study fungal morphology in tissue sections?
Which of the following stains is used to study fungal morphology in tissue sections?
Show Hint
Fungal walls are full of sugars, so pick the carbohydrate stain.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- PAS
- Von Kossa
- Alizarin red
- Masson's Trichrome
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Anchor on the chemistry of fungi. Their walls are loaded with polysaccharides. So the right stain must target carbohydrates.
Periodic acid Schiff does exactly that. The periodic acid oxidises sugar groups to aldehydes, and Schiff reagent then turns them magenta. In a tissue section this lights up fungal walls, hyphae, and yeast forms, letting you study their morphology. That makes PAS the correct pick.
Now eliminate. Von Kossa and Alizarin red are both calcium stains, useful for spotting mineral deposits, not fungi. Masson's trichrome separates collagen from muscle and is a fibrosis stain. None of these bind fungal sugars.
For completeness, Grocott methenamine silver is the other go-to fungal stain, but it is not listed, so PAS is the answer here.
\[\boxed{\text{PAS}}\]
Periodic acid Schiff does exactly that. The periodic acid oxidises sugar groups to aldehydes, and Schiff reagent then turns them magenta. In a tissue section this lights up fungal walls, hyphae, and yeast forms, letting you study their morphology. That makes PAS the correct pick.
Now eliminate. Von Kossa and Alizarin red are both calcium stains, useful for spotting mineral deposits, not fungi. Masson's trichrome separates collagen from muscle and is a fibrosis stain. None of these bind fungal sugars.
For completeness, Grocott methenamine silver is the other go-to fungal stain, but it is not listed, so PAS is the answer here.
\[\boxed{\text{PAS}}\]
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