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Crystal violet or gentian violet, also known as methyl violet 10B or hexamethyl pararosaniline chloride, is a triarylmethane dye used as a histological stain and in Gram's method of classifying bacteria. Crystal violet has antibacterial, antifungal, and anthelmintic properties and was formerly important as a topical antiseptic.
Gram staining differentiates bacteria by the chemical and physical properties of their cell walls. Gram-positive cells have a thick layer of peptidoglycan in the cell wall that retains the primary stain, crystal violet. Gram-negative cells have a thinner peptidoglycan layer that allows the crystal violet to wash out on addition of ethanol.
Cresyl violet stained partial brain section of a Macaque. It is used in biology and medicine as a histological stain. Cresyl violet is an effective and reliable stain used for light microscopy sections. Initially, tissue sections are "defatted" by passing through graded dilutions of ethanol. Then, rehydrated by passing back through decreasing ...
Gram staining uses crystal violet to stain cell walls, iodine (as a mordant), and a fuchsin or safranin counterstain to (mark all bacteria). Gram status, helps divide specimens of bacteria into two groups, generally representative of their underlying phylogeny.
Methyl violet 10B has six methyl groups. It is known in medicine as Gentian violet (or crystal violet or pyoctanin(e) [1]) and is the active ingredient in a Gram stain, used to classify bacteria. It is used as a pH indicator, with a range between 0 and 1.6.
Gram-positive bacteria take up the crystal violet stain used in the test, and then appear to be purple-coloured when seen through an optical microscope. This is because the thick layer of peptidoglycan in the bacterial cell wall retains the stain after it is washed away from the rest of the sample, in the decolorization stage of the test.
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One commonly recognizable use of differential staining is the Gram stain. Gram staining uses two dyes: Crystal violet and Fuchsin or Safranin (the counterstain) to differentiate between Gram-positive bacteria (large Peptidoglycan layer on outer surface of cell) and Gram-negative bacteria. Acid-fast stains are also differential stains.