Use of diploid and triploid trout erythrocytes as internal standards in flow cytometry

DNA content determination requires the use of standards. Vindelov has shown the need to use two standards. Chicken and trout erythrocytes are commonly used, but they are not ideal standards. On the one hand, their DNA contents rarely frame the studied sample DNA content, and, on the other hand, as their base compositions are different in terms of A + T/G + C, their relative indices change according to the stains used. Use of triploid trout erythrocytes instead of chicken erythrocytes allows elimination of these two drawbacks; however, diploid trout must be differentiated from triploid trout. The present paper shows that an anatomic malformation is found with the triploid trout and so justifies the use of paired diploid and triploid trout as standards to measure nuclear DNA content.