Fluorescent Dye Compatability Groups
In flow cytometry, there are a large number of dyes with excitation and emission profiles that are so similar that two dyes from the same group cannot be used together in the same experiment. The table below indicates such groups
| Group | Laser | Dyes |
|---|---|---|
| Violet A | 407 nm | Cascade Blue, Alexa405, Pacific Blue |
| Violet B | 407 nm | Alexa430, AmCyan, Qdot525 |
| Blue A | 488 nm | FITC, Fluorescein-NHS, Alexa488, GFP |
| Blue/Green B | 488 / 532 nm | PE |
| Blue/Green B | 488 / 532 nm | PE-TexasRed, PE-Alexa595, PE-Alexa610 |
| Blue/Green C | 488 / 532 nm | PE-Cy5, PE-Alexa647 |
| Blue/Green D | 488 / 532 nm | PE-Cy5.5, PE-Alexa680, PE-Alexa700 |
| Blue/Green E | 488 / 532 nm | PE-Cy7, PE-Alexa750 |
| Red A | 633 nm | APC, Cy5, Alexa647 |
| Red B | 633 nm | APC-Cy5.5, APC-Alexa680, APC-Alexa700, Cy5.5, Alexa680, Alexa700 |
| Red C | 633 nm | APC-Cy7, APC-Alexa750 |
Quantum dots are an emerging class of reagents for flow cytometry and custom conjugation kits are now available from Quantum Dot Corporation. Unlike the dyes above, they have very broad excitation specta, and are usually used off of the Violet laser. Many labs are equipping their LSR-II cytometers with octagon detection blocks off the violet laser, and spacing out appropriate quantum dots accordingly. For facilities with standard trigon detectors off the violet laser, quantum dots could be used in place of the Violet B group, and a Violet C group could be added.