Techniques for controlling variability in gram staining of obligate anaerobes - PubMed (original) (raw)
Comparative Study
Techniques for controlling variability in gram staining of obligate anaerobes
M J Johnson et al. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Mar.
Abstract
Identification of anaerobes recovered from clinical samples is complicated by the fact that certain gram-positive anaerobes routinely stain gram negative; Peptostreptococcus asaccharolyticus, Eubacterium plautii, Clostridium ramosum, Clostridium symbiosum, and Clostridium clostridiiforme are among the nonconformists with regard to conventional Gram-staining procedures. Accurate Gram staining of American Type Culture Collection strains of these anaerobic bacteria is possible by implementing fixing and staining techniques within a gloveless anaerobic chamber. Under anaerobic conditions, gram-positive staining occurred in all test organisms with "quick" fixing techniques with both absolute methanol and formalin. The results support the hypothesis that, when anaerobic bacteria are exposed to oxygen, a breakdown of the physical integrity of the cell wall occurs, introducing Gram stain variability in gram-positive anaerobes.
Comment in
- Failure of Gram stain to detect Propionibacterium acnes in specimens from clinically significant infections.
Esteban J, García-Calvo G, Jiménez-Castillo P, Soriano F. Esteban J, et al. J Clin Microbiol. 1996 Aug;34(8):2051. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.8.2051-2051.1996. J Clin Microbiol. 1996. PMID: 8818915 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
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