Dual trypan-aniline blue fluorescence staining methods for studying fungus-plant interactions.

Understanding the infection biology of fungi is the key step in devising suitable control strategies for plant diseases. Recently, the Arabidopsis-Colletotrichum higginsianum (causal agent of anthracnose) system has emerged as a seminal paradigm for deciphering the infection biology underlying fungus-plant interactions. We describe here three staining methods coupled with confocal microscopy: trypan blue, aniline blue and dual trypan blue-aniline blue fluorescence staining.