Fluorescence Spectra Viewers

Posted On: Wednesday, February 11, 2015

It is useful to know theexcitation and emission spectra of fluorophoresto help in selecting lights and filters forfluorescence. Some web sites provide tabulations ofexcitation and emission maxima but we find it more helpful to be able to view fullspectra, and ideally to overlay light source and filter characteristics. There are anumber of sites that offer interactive graphical viewers – you can select fluorophores to plot their excitation/emission spectra, overlay light sources and filters, download data and plots, upload your own data, and more.Not all of the sites offer the same options. We have prepared the list below with summaries of capabilities to helpyou compare spectra viewers. If you know of any good viewersthat we have missedplease let us knowby email or by leaving a comment.

Fluorofinder
Fluorophores:their own dyes, plus a good library
Light sources:no
Filters:no
Download data: no
Upload data:No
Notes:
– Tools for microscopy, flow cytometry, spectral analyzer
– Customization if open (free) account
– Can add laser lines and filter overlays to spectra for assessment

Tocris/Biotechne
Fluorophores:> 1,200
Light sources:Can add laser lines
Filters:Can add to graphs manually
Download data: Not currently
Upload data:No
Notes:
–

FPbase
Fluorophores:solid collection of ~165 fluorescent proteins and probes
Light sources:Yes, including lasers, LEDs, lamps
Filters:Yes – many
Download data: Not currently
Upload data:Can send new spectra for inclusion
Notes:
– Very convenient graphical interface
– Multiple tables and input formats available that can help in choosing solutions
– Extensive supplementary noteson fluorophores, including extinction coefficient, quantum yield, and brightness

Semrock SearchLight
Fluorophores:Large database of fluorophores – based on University of Arizona data set
Light sources:Yes, including lasers, LEDs, lamps
Filters:Semrock filter sets and individual filters
Download data:Yes, individual spectra or bulk download all currently displayed spectrain txt format in zip file
Upload data:Yes, into personal database that can be overlaid on existing data
Notes:
–Extensive plot editing tools
– Create account to save andshare sessions
– Calculators toevaluate absolute and relative signals (i.e., brightness or system throughput) and signal-to-noise ratios (contrast) for combinations of filters, fluorophores, light sources, and detectors

University of Arizona
Fluorophores:>800 spectra
Light sources:Yes, including lasers, LEDs, lamps
Filters:Yes, including dichroic mirrors
Download data: Yes, csv format
Upload data:With password
Notes:
– Easy to overlay multiple spectra
– Can bulk download all displayed data
– Supplementary noteson fluorophores,light sources, filters, etc. where available

Site: Fluorophores.org
Fluorophores: >800 spectra
Light sources: No
Filters: No
Download data: Yes, csv format
Upload data: Yes (data reviewed before being added to the list, then publicly available)
Notes:
– Fluorophores searchable by Application, Dye Class, Excitation max, Emission max, Quantum Yield, Lifetime. Multiple spectra
– Supplementary data on fluorophores, including references
– A bit awkward to overlay data compared to other sites

Fluorescence SpectraViewer – ThermoFisher
Fluorophores:>800 spectra
Light sources:Yes, including lasers, mercury and xenon lamps
Filters:Excitation and emission, limited number
Download data: Yes, fluorophore data csv format, current graph as png
Upload data:No
Notes:
– Easy to overlay multiple spectra

Link for iOS app

Evrogen Spectra Viewer
Fluorophores:Evrogen’s line of fluorescent proteins
Light sources:No
Filters:No
Download data:No
Upload data:No
Notes:
–Choose laser or wide-field excitation
– Normalized and non-normalized to compare efficiencies

ChromaSpectra Viewer
Fluorophores:~150 fluorophores
Light sources:No
Filters:Chroma filter sets and individual filters
Download data:Individual spectra in txt format,current graph as png
Upload data:No
Notes:
–Good plot controls to turn individual spectra on and off

8 Responses to “Fluorescence Spectra Viewers”

Hi,
Leica Microsystems has an online fluorescence spectra viewer (FluoScout™), accessible at http://www.leica-microsystems.com/fluoscout/.
Omega Optical has an online fluorescence spectra viewer as well (Curvomatic), accessible at http://www.omegafilters.com/curvomatic/.
Reply
Thanks Shiraz. We have added those to the list.
Reply
two very useful visualizations of almost all fluorescent proteins & photoswitchable fluorescent proteins have been developed by Talley Lambert and Kurt Thorn (UCSF):
http://nic.ucsf.edu/FPvisualization/ and http://nic.ucsf.edu/FPvisualization/PSFP.html
Reply
George McNamara, MD Anderson Cancer Center, submitted a lengthy comment loaded with valuable information. He has long been a leader in advocating for public access to spectral data and aggregating data to make it available. We felt that his comments deserved to be a post of their own – you can find that at https://nightsea.com/sfa-sharing/george-mcnamara-spectra-viewers/
Reply
BD Biosciences has a viewer that I use for fluorophores traditionally used in flow cytometry:
http://www.bdbiosciences.com/in/research/multicolor/spectrum_viewer/index.jsp
Reply
Thanks Esteban. We saw that one and did not include it since we are more microscopy- than cytometry-oriented. We may change that, but for now people can find that in your comment. Thanks for sharing that.
Reply
the FPbase spectra viewer now how as extensive selection of fluorescent protein spectra, as well as common organic dyes, commercial filters, light sources, and camera QEs.
http://fpbase.org/spectra
Reply
- Talley, thank you for submitting this new spectra viewer that you created. It looks very powerful and convenient and I think will be of great value to the community.
  Reply

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8 Responses to “Fluorescence Spectra Viewers”

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