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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 ...
In Berlin, in 1884, Gram developed a method for distinguishing between two major classes of bacteria. [1] This technique, known as Gram staining, continues to be a standard procedure of medical microbiology. This work gained Gram an international reputation. The staining method later played a major role in classifying bacteria. Gram was a ...
A Ziehl–Neelsen stain is an acid-fast stain used to stain species of Mycobacterium tuberculosis that do not stain with the standard laboratory staining procedures such as Gram staining. This stain is performed through the use of both red coloured carbol fuchsin that stains the bacteria and a counter stain such as methylene blue.
The Gram stain, developed in 1884 by Hans Christian Gram, characterises bacteria based on the structural characteristics of their cell walls. [176] [77] The thick layers of peptidoglycan in the "Gram-positive" cell wall stain purple, while the thin "Gram-negative" cell wall appears pink. [176]
All gram-positive bacteria are bounded by a single-unit lipid membrane, and, in general, they contain a thick layer (20–80 nm) of peptidoglycan responsible for retaining the Gram stain. A number of other bacteria—that are bounded by a single membrane, but stain gram-negative due to either lack of the peptidoglycan layer, as in the ...
Gram-negative bacteria will stain a pink color due to the thin layer of peptidoglycan. If a bacteria stains purple, due to the thick layer of peptidoglycan, the bacteria is a gram-positive bacteria. [4] In clinical microbiology numerous other staining techniques for particular organisms are used (acid fast bacterial stain for mycobacteria).
Bacteria within the Deinococcota group may also exhibit Gram-positive staining behavior but contain some cell wall structures typical of Gram-negative organisms. Imbedded in the Gram-positive cell wall are polyalcohols called teichoic acids , some of which are lipid-linked to form lipoteichoic acids .
Other bacteria are commonly identified with a microscope by staining them with Gram stain. However, the mycolic acid in the cell wall of M. tuberculosis does not absorb the stain. Instead, acid-fast stains such as Ziehl–Neelsen stain, or fluorescent stains such as auramine are used. [4]