Why is spore staining important

How I do that? Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. Principle of Endospore Staining Bacterial endospores are metabolically inactive, highly resistant structures produced by some bacteria as a defensive strategy against unfavorable environmental conditions. Air dry and heat fix the organism on a glass slide and cover with a square of blotting paper or toweling cut to fit the slide.

Saturate the blotting paper with malachite green stain solution and steam for 5 minutes , keeping the paper moist and adding more dye as required. Alternatively, the slide may be steamed over a container of boiling water. Wash the slide in tap water. Counterstain with 0. Wash with tap water; blot dry. Examine the slide under microscope for the presence of endospores. Endospores are bright green and vegetative cells are brownish red to pink.

Result of Endospore Staining Endospores : Endospores are bright green. The spore stains green and the vegetative cells stain red to orange. Rachel Watson, M. AG Cell: rwatson uwyo. Endospore Stain The most important endospore-forming bacteria are members of the genera Bacillus and Clostridium, both of which are Gram-positive rods. This may be helpful information in the identification of the unknown. Objectives Learn to perform the spore stain. Identify spores on a bacterial smear.

Put a beaker of water on the hot plate and boil until steam is coming up from the water. Then turn the hot plate down so that the water is barely boiling. Place the wire stain rack over the beaker which now has steam coming up from the boiled water. Cut a small piece of paper towel and place it on top of the smear on the slide. The towel will keep the dye from evaporating too quickly, thereby giving more contact time between the dye and the bacterial walls. Flood the smear with the primary dye, malachite green, and leave for 5 minutes.

Keep the paper towel moist with the malachite green. DO NOT let the dye dry on the towel. This allows the endospores to protect and preserve the genetic material of the cell and allow it to thrive once the cell finds itself in favorable conditions again. The entire process takes 8 to 10 hours. Whereas endospores reside inside the original cell, free spores spores exist outside the cell on their own. More on Chromosomes. Essentially, endospore stain is a differential stain. As such, it allows for the differentiation of structures and thus the characterization of a cell based on its physical and chemical nature.

In this case, endospore stain as a differential staining technique is largely used for the purposes of distinguishing between vegetative cells and endospores. For endoscopes, there are two major staining techniques used. These include:. This is the most common technique for endospore staining. Staining Procedure. Steps in the Procedure. Unlike the vegetative cells, endospores possess a permeability barrier. This prevents dyes from entering to stain the structures of the cell.