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Gram stain (Gram staining or Gram's method), is a method of staining used to classify bacterial species into two large groups: gram-positive bacteria and gram-negative bacteria. It may also be used to diagnose a fungal infection. [1] The name comes from the Danish bacteriologist Hans Christian Gram, who developed the technique in 1884. [2]
Gram-positive cell walls are thick and the peptidoglycan (also known as murein) layer constitutes almost 95% of the cell wall in some Gram-positive bacteria and as little as 5-10% of the cell wall in Gram-negative bacteria. The peptidoglycan layer takes up the crystal violet dye and stains purple in the Gram stain.
Schematic of typical Gram-positive cell wall showing arrangement of N-Acetylglucosamine and N-Acetylmuramic acid; Teichoic acids not shown.. The Gram-positive cell wall is characterized by the presence of a very thick peptidoglycan layer, which is responsible for the retention of the crystal violet dyes during the Gram staining procedure.
In bacteriology, Gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. The Gram stain is used by microbiologists to place bacteria into two main categories, Gram-positive (+) and Gram ...
There is no connection between the shape of a bacterium and its color upon Gram staining; there are both gram-positive rods and gram-negative rods. MacConkey agar can be used to distinguish among gram-negative bacilli such as E. coli and salmonella. [23]
The Gram stain, developed in 1884 by Hans Christian Gram, characterises bacteria based on the structural characteristics of their cell walls. [181] [79] The thick layers of peptidoglycan in the "Gram-positive" cell wall stain purple, while the thin "Gram-negative" cell wall appears pink. [181]
Bacterial morphological plasticity refers to changes in the shape and size that bacterial cells undergo when they encounter stressful environments. Although bacteria have evolved complex molecular strategies to maintain their shape, many are able to alter their shape as a survival strategy in response to protist predators, antibiotics, the immune response, and other threats.
The stain proved popular and in 1884 was used by Hans Christian Gram to stain bacteria. He credited Paul Ehrlich for the aniline-gentian violet mixture. [ 32 ] Grübler's gentian violet was probably very similar, if not identical, to Lauth's methyl violet, which had been used as a stain by Victor André Cornil in 1875.