The choices describe possible scenarios and outcomes from Gram staining with standard stains (e.g., crystal violet and safranin). Match the scenario with the most likely outcome and explain why this occurs.

2 answers

What are your choices?
A. A gram-negative cell is stained, but the ethanol step is skipped.
B. A gram-positive cell with a severely damaged cell wall is stained.
C. A healthy gram-negative cell is stained.
D. A healthy gram-positive cell is stained.

i. The cell will probably appear pink, which will not correctly indicate its cell wall structure.
ii. The cell will appear pink.
iii. The cell will appear purple/violet.
iv. The cell will probably appear purple/violet, which will not correctly indicate its cell wall structure.