orthochromasia
Sign in to saveAlso known as orthochromatic, orthochromatic erythrocyte
In chemistry, orthochromasia is the property of a dye or stain to not change color on binding to a target, as opposed to metachromatic stains, which do change color. The word is derived from the Greek orthos (correct, upright), and chromatic (color). Toluidine blue is an example of a partially orthochromatic dye, as it stains nucleic acids by its orthochromatic color (blue), but stains mast cell granules in its metachromatic color (red).
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- Instance of
- property
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- Orthochromasia
- opposite of
- metachromasia
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Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Orthochromatic photography
- Relative to panchromasia
- See also
- References
In chemistry, orthochromasia is the property of a dye or stain to not change color on binding to a target, as opposed to metachromatic stains, which do change color. The word is derived from the Greek orthos (correct, upright), and chromatic (color). Toluidine blue is an example of a partially orthochromatic dye, as it stains nucleic acids by its orthochromatic color (blue), but stains mast cell granules in its metachromatic color (red).
In spectral terms, orthochromasia refers to maintaining the position of spectral peaks, while metachromasia refers to a shift in wavelength, becoming either shorter or longer.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “orthochromasia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.