KCl Solution

Potassium chloride (KCl) is the potassium salt of hydrochloric acid. Our KCl solution has a concentration of 0.075 M and was formulated in water (cell culture quality). The hypotonic solution is ideal for cytogenetic applications such as karyotyping and chromosome analysis.

As the mineral concentration in hypotonic solutions is lower than in cells, hypotonic solutions are characterized by a lower osmotic pressure. To equalize the pressure, the water in the solution flows into the cells, the cells swell and rupture. Osmotic lysis of the cells improves the spreading/exposure of the metaphase chromosomes and simplifies cytogenetic analyses such as karyotyping (chromosome analysis based on their size, shape and banding pattern). After osmotic lysis, the chromosomes can be fixed and stained with various dyes to visualize the banding patterns.