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AAT Bioquest

What is the difference between Crystal Violet and ethidium bromide?

Posted January 14, 2022


Answer

Crystal violet and ethidium bromide both intercalate into DNA in the same way. There are two major points of difference between the two: 

  • Crystal violet is less mutagenic while ethidium bromide is highly toxic as a mutagen.
  • Crystal violet is detectable in the visible range so there’s no need for ultraviolet exposure. Ethidium bromide detection requires excitation by UV exposure. 
Additional resources

Comparison of multiple DNA dyes for real-time PCR: effects of dye concentration and sequence composition on DNA amplification and melting temperature

Helixyte™ Green Nucleic Acid Gel Stain *10,000X DMSO Solution*