Microscope Lab Report

In order to receive full credit for this lab report, please choose one of the following options for your results section:

OPTION 1: If you have access to a microscope

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1.  Include a picture of your plate.  Count the number of colonies from each surface if possible (minimum 2 surfaces).  Describe any qualitative differences between colonies that formed from microorganisms collected from each surface 

2. Describe how your samples appeared under the microscope with each stain

OPTION 2: No access to a microscope

1.  Include a picture of your plate.  Count the number of colonies from each surface if possible (minimum 2 surfaces).  Describe any qualitative differences between colonies that formed from microorganisms collected from each surface.

2. Answer the following post-lab questions: 

Experiment 1:

1. How does crystal violet enhance the visualization of bacterial structure(s)?

Experiment 2:

1. Why doesn’t the negative staining procedure require Gram iodine?
2. How does nigrosin work in the staining process? What component(s) does nigrosin stain?

Experiment 3:

1. Which organisms stain purple?
2. Which organisms stain reddish-pink?
3. What different characteristic(s) exist between the two groups that allow for the different staining conditions?
4. What was the Gram iodine added to the Gram staining procedure?
5. Why is a counterstain (safranin) added to the Gram staining procedure?
6. What are the advantages of performing a negative stain versus a simple stain for visualizing bacteria?
7. Did you experience any technical difficulties or atypical results during any of the experiments for this lab? If so, what happened? Why do you think they occurred? How could you avoid these issues in the future?

*** NOTE: You still need to write a separate discussion section. These questions belong in the results section.