Question

Some of the most commonly used dyes for simple staining are methylene blue, basic fuchsine and crystal violet. All of these dyes work well on bacteria because:

Answer 1

SIMPLE STAINING is a technique in which cationic (positive) dye is flooded across a sample, adding colour to the cells. Most commonly used dyes for simple staining are methylene blue,basic fuchsine and crystal violet. These are basic dyes ( positively charged) works well in bacteria beacause most bacteria are negatively charged.

ANSWER: Methylene blue,basic fuchsine and crystal violet are recognised as a simple staining for adding colour to the bacteria to see their shapes and sizes. The presence of negatively charged molecules in the bacteria ( gram negative) causes the staining phenomenon, as the positively charged dye is attracted to negatively charged particles such as polyphosphates like Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)and ribonucleic acid(RNA). These stain contact with bacteria and produces colour to see the bacteria in the microscopes.

NOTE: Dyes are positively charged

Bacterial surface and cytoplasm is negatively charged

Opposite charges attracts each other and dyes adhere readily to the cell surface.