2. What information/structures were you able to glean from the methylene blue stain that you could not get from the Gram iodine stain?

Answer 1

Hi. Firstly, I think that you may have meant Methylene Blue stain versus GRAM STAIN. The Methylene Blue stain is an example of a simple stain that stains bacteria such that one can discern their shape and relative size. The Gram Stain is a differential stain. If done correctly, the viewer can not only determine the shape and relative size of the organism but also tell if the organism is a Gram positive bacterium (contains a thick cell wall made up of peptidoglycan), or a Gram negative organism (contains a thin cell wall, a periplasmic compartment, and an outer membrane). Furthermore, A Gram-stain can help the viewer determine the age of a population of some Gram positive bacteria (i.e. Bacillus spp.) in that older bacteria do not completely retain the primary stain used in the Gram staining process, scientists call this phenomenon "Gram variable".