Gram Positive Bacteria

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Gram Staining

Gram staining is a method of staining used to classify bacteria into two main categories;
gram-positive and gram-negative. It was developed by the Danish scientist Hans
Christian Gram in the 1880s.

The difference in staining between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria is due to a

difference in cell walls.

Gram-positive bacteria have a thick peptidoglycan layer which stains a vivid

violet colour
Gram-negative bacteria have only a thin peptidoglycan layer, which allows the
violet stain to wash out with ethanol, and thus it washed away during the staining
process, and are thus instead stained pink or red by the counterstain used in the
staining process.

Gram staining – 140 years after its discovery – is still often the first and one of the useful
methods of identifying bacteria.

The differentiation is particularly important as it helps to identify which types of antibiotics

will be most effective against an organism – often much sooner (within a a couple of
hours) than can be determined by culture and sensitivities – which can take up to 48
hours.

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 A gram stain showing both gram positive cocci
(staphylococci) and gram negative bacilli (E. coli). This
file is taken from wikimedia commons and is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
3.0 Unported license.

Gram-positive bacteria
Gram-positive bacteria all have a thick peptidoglycan outer layer. This can be targeted by
antibiotics – in particular penicillins and cephalosporins.

Many common infections are caused by Gram-positive bacteria, bacterially by

staphylococcus and streptococcus:

Staphylococci – cellulitis and wound infections

Streptococci – impetigo, tonsillitis, Scarlett fever, pneumonia

Streptococcus. Image from the wellcome collection.

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Classifications

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