The present study is focused on application of a natural compound, 3, 5-dihydroxy 4′, 7-dimethoxyflavone (DHDM) from a medicinal plant for nucleic acid detection and differential cell staining. DHDM was found to interact with nucleic acid and forms complex, which was investigated for various applications. It was successfully utilized to visualize plasmid, genomic, and ds-linear DNA in agarose gel electrophoresis without affecting the DNA mobility in the gel. Fluorescence of DHDM increased several fold upon binding to dsDNA. Photostability of the compound was assessed and showed photobleaching effect that decreased gradually over time. Application of the compound was further extended to differential cell staining. When observed in fluorescence microscope, DHDM stained the dead cells and differentiated them from live cells in the case of bacterial, yeast, and mammalian cells. Higher concentration of the compound was found to be less cytotoxic to cancerous cells. Nucleic acid staining dyes like Ethidium bromide (EtBr), Propidium iodide (PI), etc. are carcinogens and environmental pollutants and therefore DHDM a natural compound, is a major benefit and thus can serve as an alternative to the current dyes.

中文翻译：

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3, 5-二羟基4', 7-二甲氧基黄酮-DNA相互作用研究，用于核酸检测和差异细胞染色

本研究的重点是应用来自药用植物的天然化合物 3, 5-二羟基 4', 7-二甲氧基黄酮 (DHDM) 进行核酸检测和差异细胞染色。DHDM被发现与核酸相互作用并形成复合物，并对其进行了各种应用研究。它已成功用于在琼脂糖凝胶电泳中可视化质粒、基因组和双链线性 DNA，而不影响凝胶中的 DNA 迁移率。DHDM 与 dsDNA 结合后荧光增加数倍。对该化合物的光稳定性进行了评估，结果显示光漂白效果随着时间的推移逐渐减弱。该化合物的应用进一步扩展到差异细胞染色。当在荧光显微镜下观察时，DHDM 对死细胞进行染色，并将其与细菌、酵母和哺乳动物细胞的活细胞区分开来。发现较高浓度的化合物对癌细胞的细胞毒性较小。核酸染色染料如溴化乙锭（EtBr）、碘化丙啶（PI）等都是致癌物质和环境污染物，因此DHDM作为天然化合物具有主要优点，因此可以作为现有染料的替代品。