Microbiology Procedure

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Special Staining Techniques

	Special Staining Techniques Spores may be stained by applying heated malachite green stain to a smear of bacteria. The vigorous washing with water removes the stain from vegetative cells. Safranin is then applied to the smear, which is then washed. The technique observes green spores an red vegetative cells For staining capsules, two principles are applied first a negative stain is done to outline the cell and its capsule.
Next a simple stain is applied to add colour To the bacterial cell. The result is a stained bacterium with a colourless capsule on a dark background. The development of the techniques described above could make it possible w isolate and purify the microorganisms. The early stages of microbiology were then concerned with the discovery of the structure and the biochemical activity of the organisms. Finally, this led to a consideration of the mechanisms of heredity and of control of expression of particular properties.
The last 10-15 years have seen a gradual move away from consideration of the isolated organism and there is now much interest in mixed populations of cells and their role in environment. Finally the last phase is the development of microorganisms as biochemical reactors (e.g) as hosts for foreign gene expression and as the producers of single enzymes or groups of enzymes concerned with specific reactions. The recent developments build upon the experience of earlier microbiologists and, therefore, an understanding of the core of microbiology is very essential.

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