2006-09-23 13:53:39 · 7 answers · asked by karen s 1 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Infectious Diseases
E.coli is a Gram Negative Rod. That is one clue to identify this bacteria. The bacteria that causes gonorrhea is a gram negative diplococci that appears intra and extracellularly and has sort of a coffee bean shape. The Staphylococcus bacteria is gram positive and often appears in clusters and the bacteria that causes Strep is gram pos and seen in chains.
Gram is the particular type of stain used so that these bacteria can be seen under a microscope. The stains uptake differentiates the types of membranes the organism has. Gram positive appear purple and gram negative appear red. There are a LOT more tests performed to definitively identify a bacterial organism besides the gram stain.
2006-09-23 15:50:08 · answer #1 · answered by petlover 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Bacteria come in several flavors.
One test that is performed upon them to determine what kind of bacteria they are is the gram stain test.
Some bacteria accept the stain and some do not get stained. That's all it tells you really. I think I heard once that gram negatives were a little more virulent, but antibiotics should still do the trick.
2006-09-23 20:56:16 · answer #2 · answered by special-chemical-x 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gram negative is the type of bacteria. It tells the doctor what type of antibiotic to use. Some are more easily controled by different antibiotics. That is why they have to see you to prescribe the correct antibiotic for the type of infection that you have.
2006-09-23 21:05:18 · answer #3 · answered by tlctreecare 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yeah, cell walls of bacteria are conisdered either graham positive, negative, or atypical. its basically just a way of classifying types of bacteria. some antibiotics only work against one or two of the different cell wall types
2006-09-23 21:28:49 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's "gram negative" and it's just a way of differentiating among bacteria based upon whether they are stained with a specific dye or not, i suggest you search for "gram staining" at wikipedia for more info
2006-09-23 21:04:01 · answer #5 · answered by Nick F 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
gram negative and gram positive are bacteria identifiers. niether is more serious than the other although there are gram negative pathogens (disease causing germs) which may present a more serious disease picture then gram positive. most germs + or - are not particularly harmful.
2006-09-23 21:31:14 · answer #6 · answered by gmillioni 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
do you mean gram negative?
some bacteria are gram negative...
just the kind of environment they thrive in..
the bacteria is the problem
2006-09-23 20:56:42 · answer #7 · answered by casa2 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋