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Lab Report For The Purpose Of Gram Staining

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Gram Staining
Formal Lab Report
Miranda King
Intro Microbiology
Dr. Hendrickson
13 September 2017

Purpose
For the purpose of the gram staining experiment was to learn this specific type of staining technique, as well as learn how distinguish the differences between Gram positive and Gram negative stains. This technique uses crystal violet stain, Gram’s Iodine, Ethyl Alcohol, and Safranin. These dyes are used in order to distinguish between the different types of cells. For example, Gram positive staining will result in a purple color, and Gram negative staining will result in a red or pinkish color (University of Central Oklahoma department of biology, 2016). When a bacteria results in a purple stain it is categorized as a gram-positive stain because the alcohol that was used to decolorize the bacteria was not successful. Its’ cell wall is made with a thick layer of peptidoglycan and holds the crystal violet color (Case, Funke, & Tortora). When a bacteria results in a red or pinkish color, this means that it loses the crystal violet dye color after being decolorized and keeps the Safranin dye. It would then become categorized as a gram-negative stain (Case, Funke, & Tortora). A gram-negative bacteria has a cell wall made of a thin layer of peptidoglycan and a thick layer of lipopolysaccharides thus holding onto the red dye (Case, Funke, & Tortora). Bacteria have different shapes and these shapes determine what family they belong in. There are

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