Janus Green B is a basic

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...

and vital stain used in

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

. It is also used to stain

mitochondria A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and Fungus, fungi. Mitochondria have a double lipid bilayer, membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosi ...

supravitally, as was introduced by

Leonor Michaelis Leonor Michaelis (16 January 1875 – 8 October 1949) was a German biochemist, physical chemist, and physician, known for his work with Maud Menten on enzyme kinetics in 1913, as well as for work on enzyme inhibition, pH and quinones. E ...

in 1900. The indicator Janus Green B changes colour according to the amount of oxygen present. When oxygen is present, the indicator oxidizes to a blue colour. In the absence of oxygen, the indicator is reduced and changes to a pink colour.

References

Staining dyes Azo dyes Phenazines Chlorides Aromatic amines Anilines Diethylamino compounds {{organic-compound-stub