Principles and methods for the quantitative determination of Feulegen stained DNA with the television texture analysis system (TAS)

Abstract

The television texture analysis system (TAS, Leitz) has been applied to determination of the relative DNA content of Feulgen stained nuclei. The principles of the method are described and comparative measurements are presented. The determination is based on the measurement of areas at preset intervals of transmittance, taking into consideration the necessary correction of extinction values in relation to area and applying a correction for background. The data obtained can be used for the quantitative determination of DNA, and to provide analytical information for quantitation of structure. Comparison of the mean of extinctions as recorded with the scanning photometric method and those recorded with the television texture analysis method, with which 43 nuclei were investigated in transmittance steps of 0.01, revealed a coefficient of correlation of 0.9938.