Cell cycle analysis of budding yeast using SYTOX Green.

Flow cytometric determination of DNA content is a standard tool for cell cycle analysis in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using SYTOX Green instead of propidium iodide (PI) in a standard ethanol fixation protocol increases the accuracy and reproducibility of cell cycle analyses. SYTOX-stained cells exhibit improved coefficients of variation (CVs), a better correlation between DNA content and fluorescence, and decreased sensitivity to variances in experimental conditions when compared with PI-stained cells. The SYTOX Green protocol provides researchers with a more accurate and reliable alternative to standard PI-based protocols for the analysis of the budding yeast cell cycle.