Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Gram Stain and Purity 
Name: Margie
Status: Other
Grade:  Other
Location: OH
Country: United States
Date: January 2007
Question:
How might the Gram stain technique be of value in establishing the purity of a culture of bacteria?


Replies:
If all of the cells in a culture are Gram positive, this would tell you that there are no Gram negative cells in the culture. But you must do many additional test like cell morphology, colony morphology, sugar fermentation tests plus other tests in order to conclude that it is a pure culture.

Ron Baker, Ph.D.


Click here to return to the Molecular Biology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory