Gram Stain

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Purpose Statement
To study the gram staining technique.TYPES OF CELL WALLS
The bacterial cell walls are divided in two types. The gram-positive cell wall is composed predominantly of peptidoglycan and is quite thick. The peptidoglycan or murein functions to provide rigidity to the cell and is composed of N-acetyl muramic acid and N-acetyl glucosamine in alternating chains( Silhavy,2015). Their matrix is embedded with polysaccharides, and there is also a presence of teichoic acid and variants which lend it antigenic property.
Figure 1: the structure of gram positive wall.
The gram-negative wall is thin, and peptidoglycan forms a very small part of it, but it has several other components , an outer membrane lies outside the peptidoglycan and is principally composed of proteins and lipopolysaccharides that lend it its negative charge and the lipid A component provides toxicity to the bacteria. The periplasmic space between the outer membrane and the cytoplasmic membrane has many proteins that gather nutrition for the bacteria and help in peptidoglycan synthesis (Silhary et al. 252).
Figure 2: the structure of gram-negative cell wall.
MECHANISM OF GRAM STAINING AND CHANGES IN CELL WALL
In the first step of gram staining, crystal violet is applied to the specimen, and it breaks down into CV+ and Cl-. The CV+ ions and negative charges in the peptidoglycan layer that are present on bacterial cell walls of bot…