"The most widely used stain in microbiology is the Gram
stain. Based on differences in the structure of the bacterial cell
wall, the Gram stain divides bacteria into two major groups:
Gram-positive and Gram-negative. Gram-positive cells have a thick
layer of peptidoglycan, a polymer made of amino acids and sugars,
in the cell wall. Crystal violet binds to peptidoglycan, rendering
the cell purple. Gram-negative cells also have peptidoglycan and
initially also stain purple. Since the peptidoglycan layer is much
thinner,...