SYBR Stains

Helixyte™ is AAT Bioquest's line of SYBR-equivalent nucleic acid stains, featuring identical chemical structures to SYBR Green and SYBR Gold at significantly reduced cost. These asymmetric cyanine dyes exhibit dramatic fluorescence enhancement (>1000-fold) upon binding to nucleic acids, making them suitable for gel electrophoresis, qPCR, and cell staining applications.

Helixyte™ Product	Equivalent To	Ex/Em (nm)	Best Applications
Helixyte™ Green	SYBR Green I	498/522	qPCR, dsDNA gel staining
Helixyte™ Gold	SYBR Gold	496/539	DNA & RNA gels, ssDNA detection
Helixyte™ 14	SYBR 14	489/520	Sperm viability, flow cytometry

Helixyte™ Green (SYBR Green Equivalent)

Helixyte™ Green is chemically identical to SYBR Green I and serves as a well-tested standard for real-time PCR (qPCR) and double-stranded DNA gel staining applications. The dye binds to the minor groove of dsDNA, exhibiting minimal fluorescence when free in solution but becoming highly fluorescent upon DNA binding.

Key Advantages of Helixyte™ Green

Identical to SYBR Green I — Same chemical structure ensures equivalent performance
Exceptional sensitivity — Detects as little as 0.1 ng dsDNA in gels
High fluorescence enhancement — >1000-fold increase upon DNA binding
Minimal background — Near-zero fluorescence when unbound
Blue light excitation — Compatible with safe blue LED transilluminators (no UV damage)
qPCR-optimized formats — Ready-to-use PCR solutions for real-time detection

Key Advantages for qPCR

Direct detection of amplification products without sequence-specific probes
Compatible with all major real-time PCR instruments
Cost-effective alternative to TaqMan probes for many applications
Enables melt curve analysis for amplicon verification

Fig. 1

Comparison of Helixyte™ Green and SYBR® Green

160 ng of 1 Kb Plus DNA Ladder (ThermoFisher 10787018) in 0.9% agarose/TBE electrophoresis gel were stained with Helixyte™ Green and SYBR® Green and imaged with 254-nm UV transilluminator using UVP Bioimaging System.

Helixyte™ Gold (SYBR Gold Equivalent)

Helixyte™ Gold is chemically equivalent to SYBR Gold and provides exceptional sensitivity for detecting both DNA and RNA in gel electrophoresis applications. Unlike Helixyte™ Green which preferentially binds dsDNA, Helixyte™ Gold detects all nucleic acid types with high sensitivity.

Key Advantages of Helixyte™ Gold

Identical to SYBR Gold — Same chemical structure, equivalent performance
Universal nucleic acid detection — Detects dsDNA, ssDNA, and RNA equally well
Picogram sensitivity — More sensitive than ethidium bromide for low-abundance samples
Broad excitation range — Works with UV transilluminators and blue LED systems
Superior for ssDNA — Ideal for applications requiring single-stranded DNA detection

Fig. 2

Comparison of Helixyte™ Gold and SYBR® Gold

160 ng of 1 Kb Plus DNA Ladder (ThermoFisher 10787018) in 0.9% agarose/TBE electrophoresis gel were stained with Helixyte™ Gold and SYBR® Gold and imaged with 254-nm UV transilluminator using UVP Bioimaging System.

Helixyte™ Green vs. Helixyte™ Gold

Feature	Helixyte™ Green	Helixyte™ Gold
dsDNA Detection	Excellent	Excellent
ssDNA Detection	Moderate	Excellent
RNA Detection	Limited	Excellent
qPCR Applications	Optimal	Not recommended
PCR Product Verification	Excellent	Excellent
Oligonucleotide Detection	Poor	Good

Helixyte™ 14 (SYBR 14 Equivalent)

Helixyte™ 14 is chemically identical to SYBR 14 and is specialized for cell staining applications, particularly sperm viability assessment in reproductive biology. Unlike gel stains, Helixyte™ 14 is membrane-permeant, allowing it to enter live cells and stain DNA within the nucleus.

Key Advantages of Helixyte™ 14

Identical to SYBR 14 — Same chemical structure for equivalent performance
Membrane-permeant — Enters live cells for viability assessment
Green fluorescence — FITC-compatible (Ex/Em = 489/520 nm)
High signal-to-background — Minimal fluorescence when unbound
Flow cytometry compatible — Optimized for high-throughput cell analysis

SYBR Dye qPCR Calibration Products

Real-time thermal cyclers require periodic calibration to maintain optimal spectral detection performance. These SYBR dye calibration products provide consistent fluorescence standards for instrument maintenance, ensuring accurate and reproducible quantification results across experiments.

This document (01.0303.251203r1) was last updated on Sat Feb 28 2026. All trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.