Question

1. At what point in the Gram Stain procedure would you be able to differentiate Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative cells? (Eg. after the crystal violet is applied, after the Safranin is applied?) Explain why.

2. Could you switch out the Safranin dye with another? Think carefully and explain.

3. Gram-Variable organisms will not produce a consistent gram result. Give two different reasons an organism would be Gram-Variable, give an example of an organism (Genus and species name) and an alternate staining method that could be used to identify that organism for each reason.