The present invention provides methods for determining the presence of immobilized
nucleic acid employing unsymmetrical
cyanine dyes that are derivatives of
thiazole orange, a
staining solution and select fluorogenic compounds that are characterized as being essentially non-genotoxic. The methods comprise immobilizing
nucleic acid, single or
double stranded DNA,
RNA or a combination thereof, on a
solid or
semi solid support, contacting the immobilized
nucleic acid with an unsymmetrical
cyanine dye compound and then illuminating the immobilized nucleic acid with an appropriate
wavelength whereby the presence of the nucleic acid is determined. The
cyanine dye compounds are typically present in an aqueous
staining solution comprising the dye compound and a
tris acetate or
tris borate buffer wherein the solution facilitates the contact of the dye compound and the immobilized nucleic acid. Typically the
solid or semi-
solid support is selected from the group consisting of a polymeric gel, a membrane, an array, a glass bead, a
glass slide, and a polymeric
microparticle. Preferably, the polymeric gel is
agarose or
polyacrylamide. The methods employing the non-genotoxic compounds represent an improvement over commonly used methods employing
ethidium bromide wherein the present methods retain the advantages of
ethidium bromide, ease of use and low cost, but without the disadvantageous, known
mutagen requiring special handling and waste procedures.