Monday, May 11, 2009

What would happen if you do not apply Gram's iodine after staining the crystal violet?

This question is in microbiology.

What would happen if you do not apply Gram's iodine after staining the crystal violet?
The Gram stain is crystal violet that must be bound to iodine in order for the stain to work. When you add iodine to the crystal violet, you are making a huge complex; in gram-negative bacteria, where the peptidoglycan layer is thin, the large complex can slip out and you do not see a purple stain. In Gram-positive bacteria, the crystal violet-iodine complex is too large to pass through the multi-layered peptidoglycan layer. Remember that the Gram-stain does not depend on peptidoglycan, but rather its thickness, as yeast cells with very thick cell membranes stain Gram-positive.





If iodine is not included in the stain, the crystal violet will not stick to the bacterial cell wall, and the stain will wash off both Gram-positive and -negative bacteria during the decolorization step.
Reply:it will make result what we have be in correct. cause the reaction is not completed.


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