How does crystal violet work

Please enquire about species-specific products and we can help find the right match for you. Stereotaxic Accesories. Conduct Lifestyle Grants Academia. Quote Crystal Violet Stain. Introduction Crystal violet is an organic chloride salt that belongs to the triphenylmethane type alkaline dyes.

Brief history Charles Lauth was the first scientist to synthesize methyl violet in Chemical properties Some of the chemical properties of crystal violet include: Light sensitivity Insoluble in ether but soluble in alcohol, chloroform, and water. Exothermic with reducing agents, releasing gaseous hydrogen. Reacts vigorously with oxidizing agents.

Crystal violet preparation Crystal violet is prepared by using N, N-dimethylaniline. Crystal violet staining of adherent cells Crystal violet can be used to examine the effect of chemotherapeutics and other agents on growth and survival cells in a culture.

The staining procedure: Place the cells to be examined on the ice and wash them with cold PBS. Then aspirate methanol from plates. After this, the cells can be stained with crystal violet or stored for future use.

To stain the cells, move them to room temperature and add 0. Then incubate the cells for about 10 minutes and remove the crystal violet stain by washing in water until the dye comes off. After washing, allow the cells to dry at room temperatures.

Applications of crystal violet As an antibacterial and antifungal agent Crystal violet can be used to kill or slow the growth of bacteria. As an antiseptic drug Crystal violet can be used as a disinfectant to inhibit the activity of microbes or to destroy them. As an anthelminthic drug Crystal violet can also be used to kill parasitic worms.

As a histological dye Crystal violet is also used in the microscopic examination of cells to highlight and give contrast to specific features of the cell, e. Other applications As an acid-base indicator in biological stains and non-aqueous titration.

Color ranging from green PH 0. Crystal violet, in a hydrobromic acid medium, forms a colored chelate with thallium. As such it can be used as a thallium sensitive reagent.

Crystal violet can also be used to detect metal ions such as antimony, zinc, mercury, tungsten, cadmium, and gold. Crystal violet can be used to check the viability of cells in culture.

Bruckner What is Gram Staining? Show Caption. Anthrax gram stain. The Gram Stain is a differential staining technique that allows us to differentiate gram negative cells from gram positive cells based upon the chemistry and structure of their cell walls.

After completing the staining protocol, gram positive cells appear purple while gram negative cells appear pink. The gram stain utilizes crystal violet as the primary stain. With the dissolution of the lipid layer, gram negatives lose the primary stain.

In contrast, solvent dehydrates the gram-positive cell walls with the closure of pores preventing diffusion of violet-iodine complex, and thus, bacteria remain stained.

The length of decolorization is a critical step in gram staining as prolonged exposure to a decolorizing agent can remove all the stains from both types of bacteria. The final step in gram staining is to use basic fuchsin stain to give decolorized gram-negative bacteria pink color for easier identification.

It is also known as counterstain.