Bismarck brown Y is a diazo dye. It is used in histology

Histology

Histology is the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. It is performed by examining cells and tissues commonly by sectioning and staining; followed by examination under a light microscope or electron microscope...

 for staining

Staining (biology)

Staining is an auxiliary technique used in microscopy to enhance contrast in the microscopic image. Stains and dyes are frequently used in biology and medicine to highlight structures in biological tissues for viewing, often with the aid of different microscopes...

 tissues. It stains acid mucin

Mucin

Mucins are a family of high molecular weight, heavily glycosylated proteins produced by epithelial tissues in most metazoans. Mucins' key characteristic is their ability to form gels; therefore they are a key component in most gel-like secretions, serving functions from lubrication to cell...

s to yellow color. It can be used with live cells

Cell culture

Cell culture is the complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions. In practice, the term "cell culture" has come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from singlecellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells. However, there are also cultures of plants, fungi and microbes,...

. It is also used to stain cartilage

Cartilage

Cartilage is a flexible connective tissue found in many areas in the bodies of humans and other animals, including the joints between bones, the rib cage, the ear, the nose, the elbow, the knee, the ankle, the bronchial tubes and the intervertebral discs...

 in bone

Bone

Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...

 specimens, as one of Kasten's Schiff-type reagents in the periodic acid-Schiff stain to stain cellulose

Cellulose

Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....

, and in Feulgen stain

Feulgen stain

Feulgen stain is a staining technique discovered by Robert Feulgen and used in histology to identify chromosomal material or DNA in cell specimens. It depends on acid hydrolysis of DNA, therefore fixating agents using strong acids should be avoided....

 to stain DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

.

It was more common in the past; today it is partially replaced by other stains.

Bismarck brown Y is a constituent of Papanicolaou stain

Papanicolaou stain

Papanicolaou stain is a multichromatic staining histological technique developed by George Papanikolaou, the father of cytopathology....

s.

It can also be used as a counterstain

Counterstain

A counterstain is a stain with color contrasting to the principal stain, making the stained structure more easily visible.An example is the malachite green counterstain to the fuchsine stain in the Gimenez staining technique....

 for Victoria blue R

Victoria blue R

Victoria blue R is a compound with formula C29H32NCl3. It is a dye....

 for staining of acid-fast

Acid-fast

Acid-fastness is a physical property of certain bacteria, specifically their resistance to decolorization by acids during staining procedures.Acid-fast organisms are difficult to characterize using standard microbiological techniques Acid-fastness is a physical property of certain bacteria,...

microorganisms.