Easy, fast, cheap, informative, and pretty – staining of plant sections with Mayer’s mucicarmine and Lugol’s reagent

A novel combination of widely used commercial histochemical reagents, Mayer’s mucicarmine and Lugol’s reagent, was applied to survey anatomical analysis of various plant organs: Euphorbia splendens stem, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis petiole, Homalocladium platycladum stem base, Phalaenopsis sp. aerial root, Rhipsalis sp. stem, Schoenoplectus lacustris stem base, and Urtica dioica stem primary structure. The staining resulted in red coloration of non-lignified cell walls and mucilage, yellow coloration of lignified cell walls and protein-rich components of the protoplasts, and dark staining of starch. The method was found to be cheap, easy, fast, and informative, and thus widely applicable in both teaching and research.