Improved Thiéry staining for the ultrastructural detection of polysaccharides.

The use of silver vitellinate instead of silver proteinate in the Thiéry's staining for the ultrastructural detection of polysaccharides has advantages which derive from the lesser reactivity and higher stability of silver vitellinate solutions, allowing the obtention of a finer staining of periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive materials with a cleaner background. The proposed method is particularly useful for the staining of PAS-positive cellular components at high resolution.