MIMM 212 Study Guide - Final Guide: Carbol Fuchsin, Mycobacterium Smegmatis, Methylene Blue

• School: McGill University
• Department: Microbiology and Immun (Sci)
• Course: MIMM 212
• Professor: Samantha Gruenheid

Document Summary

The acid-fast staining technique was examined in this experiment on mycobacterium smegmatis and staphlyococcus aureus to detect acid-fast bacteria. Ziehl"s carbol fuchsin was used as the primary dye, and stained red, while methylene blue was used after decolourization by acid alcohol, and stained blue. Results indicated that the m. smegmatis stained red and the s. aureus stained blue and any deviations from this ideal result may have been caused by heavy decolourization or other errors. It was ultimately concluded that the m. smegmatis was the acid- fast bacteria due to its colouring after the experiment. Acid-fast staining is a technique used to treat certain bacteria that cannot be stained with water based chemicals. Bacteria with thick waxy cell walls, such as those of the genus. Mycobacterium, are called acid-fast because their walls have a much higher concentration of lipids and are thus hydrophobic (or water hating ) and repel the water based stains, permitting only staining via the acid-fast method.