Lab method
Lactophenol cotton blue
Mounting stain for mold morphology
LAK-toe-FEE-nol
High-yield clue
Lactophenol cotton blue is the go-to mount for studying mold structures like conidiophores and macroconidia.
Overview
A mounting-fluid stain concept for examining fungal (especially mold) morphology, where cotton blue dye colors chitin in cell walls while phenol and lactic acid preserve structures.
Classification
- Mounting-medium stain concept
- Mold morphology method
- Chitin-binding dye
- Light microscopy
Lab & identification clues
- Cotton blue colors fungal cell walls
- Preserves hyphae and fruiting-body shape
- Used with tease/tape mount vocabulary
- Reveals conidia and spore arrangement
Associations
- Aspergillus conidiophore recognition
- Dermatophyte macro/microconidia study association
- Mold identification vocabulary
Commonly confused with
- KOH preparation
- Calcofluor white stain
Your notes
Original concept summary for coursework. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e and NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology; reviewed 2026-06. Describes vocabulary and interpretation concepts only; not a lab protocol and not for handling specimens or identifying patient isolates.