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How can you remove crystal violet in a Gram Stain?

Updated: 8/10/2023
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Rachealann09

Lvl 1
15y ago

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You won't be able to positively distinguish gram negative from gram positive organisms. Crystal violet is used first so that gram positive organisms will take up the dye and this color is not affected by safrinin later on. Gram negative organisms will lose the purple coloring during the decolorizer step, therefore need to be counterstained so that you can view the organisms.

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Wiki User

13y ago
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15y ago

You can use acetone or alcohol to remove crystal violet(decolorizer).

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13y ago

It's one of the differentiating dyes that shows a bacterium is gram positive by staying purple at the end of the staining process.

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Q: How can you remove crystal violet in a Gram Stain?
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What is the purpose of crystal violet in the Gram's stain procedure?

Its the primary stain of the procedure. IT stains the Gram positive organisms


Function of acetone in gram staining?

Acetone is used for decolouring method, washing away the iodine-crystal violet complex formed in gram negative bacteria. so that the gram negative bacteria can be then stained with safranin or fuchsin.


What is a decolorizer do in gram staining?

It removes the crystal violet (primary stain) from gram negative bacteria. It does not remove Crystal violet as easily from gram positive bacteria, because the highly peptidoglycan walls of gram positive bacteria interact with crystal violet and iodine to form a strong bond (CV-Iodine complex). So, gram positive cells hold on to the stain instead of letting it wash away.


What is the function of iodine solution in the gram stain?

It allows the primary stain crystal violet to remain in the cell instead of being washed out. Due to the larger size of the crystal violet molecule, when the ethanol is applied (the decolorizer) the stain will not be washed out of the Gram (+) positive cells.


What are the reagents and steps min a Gram stain?

The steps in Gram staining are:1. crystal violet added to the smear2. iodine, the mordant (this fixes the violet)3. a decolorizer made of acetone and alcohol4. safranin, the counterstainIf the cell is Gram +, the decolorizer can not remove the violet. If it is Gram -, the decolorizer can remove the violet and the cell can be then colored with the dye, safranin.Bacteria are grouped in 4 groups by Gram stain:Gram-positive, the cell wall retains crystal Violet.Gram-negative, the cell wall does not retain crystal Violet.Graham not reactive, no staining whatsoever.Graham variable, uneven staining.

Related questions

What is the secondary stain in gram stain procedure?

It is crystal violet & stains all cells purple.


What color will gram stain positive turn into?

If using a gram stain, they will turn Crystal Violet.


What is the purpose of the crystal violet in the gram stain procedure?

Its the primary stain of the procedure. IT stains the Gram positive organisms


What is the purpose of crystal violet in the Gram's stain procedure?

Its the primary stain of the procedure. IT stains the Gram positive organisms


What is crystal violet iodine complex?

In Gram staining procedure during bacterial staining , iodine forms a complex with crystal violet stain which stains Gram positive bacteria blue to violet .


Function of acetone in gram staining?

Acetone is used for decolouring method, washing away the iodine-crystal violet complex formed in gram negative bacteria. so that the gram negative bacteria can be then stained with safranin or fuchsin.


What is a decolorizer do in gram staining?

It removes the crystal violet (primary stain) from gram negative bacteria. It does not remove Crystal violet as easily from gram positive bacteria, because the highly peptidoglycan walls of gram positive bacteria interact with crystal violet and iodine to form a strong bond (CV-Iodine complex). So, gram positive cells hold on to the stain instead of letting it wash away.


Why does the counterstain not change the color of all of the cells is it because the primary stain repels or masks the secondary stain?

In a gram stain the primary stain is crystal violet. Iodine then sets that dye into the gram positive cells while alcohol washes out the crystal violet from the gram negative cells. Then safranin, which is the counterstain in a gram stain, is used to dye the rest of the bacteria. This is the example I can give you of why a counterstain does not change the look in all the cells. Though safranin stains all the cells, the gram positive cells that were dyed purple from crystal violet don't look pink - only the gram negative do.


What is the function of iodine solution in the gram stain?

It allows the primary stain crystal violet to remain in the cell instead of being washed out. Due to the larger size of the crystal violet molecule, when the ethanol is applied (the decolorizer) the stain will not be washed out of the Gram (+) positive cells.


What color is gram negative stain and gram positive stain if you forget to apply iodine?

If iodine is not applied, both the gram-positive and gram-negative stains will appear to be gram-negative. The iodine acts as a mordant that helps to fix the crystal violet stain in the gram-positive bacteria, making them appear purple. Without iodine, the crystal violet stain can be easily washed out of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, resulting in a pink or red color.


What are the reagents and steps min a Gram stain?

The steps in Gram staining are:1. crystal violet added to the smear2. iodine, the mordant (this fixes the violet)3. a decolorizer made of acetone and alcohol4. safranin, the counterstainIf the cell is Gram +, the decolorizer can not remove the violet. If it is Gram -, the decolorizer can remove the violet and the cell can be then colored with the dye, safranin.Bacteria are grouped in 4 groups by Gram stain:Gram-positive, the cell wall retains crystal Violet.Gram-negative, the cell wall does not retain crystal Violet.Graham not reactive, no staining whatsoever.Graham variable, uneven staining.


Function of crystal violet in gram stain?

Well if you stained with only crystal violet, then they would all be violet! If you do a Gram Stain the right way, you end up getting Gram positive being violet or purple and Gram Negative being red or pink.