Gram positive and gram negative bacteria
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Immunology & Microbiology
from TECHNOLOGY NETWORKS
Gram Positive vs Gram Negative
ARTICLE Aug 21, 2019
Gram Positive vs Gram Negative
Karen Steward PhD
Science Writer
Being able to differentiate bacterial species is important for a host of reasons, from diagnosing infection or checking food safety, to identifying which species it is that gives a cheese it’s fantastic character. Bacterial species, and even specific strains can be differentiated using a number of molecular techniques such as PCR, quantitative PCR, genome sequencing and mass spectrometry. But even without getting into the molecular nitty gritty, there are phenotypic differences between groups of bacteria that can be used to differentiate them. This includes characteristics like their shape (bacilli vs cocci for example), growth in particular nutrients and preference for high or low oxygen environments. Depending on the characteristic being studied, bacterial species may be broken down into broad groups, but taken together this information can narrow the possible identities greatly. One such useful classification – if a bacterium is Gram positive or Gram negative - is based on the structure of bacterial cell walls.