A. Compare your observations from the four activities of fresh wet mount, direct staining using crystal violet, and indirect staining using both Congo Red and crystal violet.
The fresh wet mount slides, as the name suggests, is bathed in some form of liquid, whether it is water or some kind of liquid that the organism itself came from. The microscopic images produced are clear or somewhat colorless, but the edges are distinct and we can see the shapes of the bacteria very well.
Direct staining using crystal violet produces bluish or purplish colored bacteria and the shapes are well distinguished also
Indirect staining using Congo Red is like the negative film version of direct staining. The bacteria or organism is left uncolored but it can be seen because of the reddish background that surrounds it. Since it leaves the inside of the bacteria untouched, we can see the inside of the cell wall.
B. Discuss whether you were able to identify specific bacterial morphologies.
Looking at the prepared slides on the Lab Manual, I was able to identify the various bacteria via their shapes. Cocci are round shaped bacteria, while bacilli look to me like medicine capsules or very small submarines. The slides with spiral bacteria seem to have multiple arms sticking out of a round center, kind of like the spokes of a bicycle wheel or a clock with multiple hands. The rest are variations on those shapes

C. Explain the difference between direct and indirect staining.
Direct staining is the technique of applying a dye that colors the cell itself. This is achieved by applying a dye that has positive ions that is attracted by the negatively charged bacterial cell wall e.g. crystal violet.
On the other hand, an indirect stain causes the dye to color the space around the bacteria because it reacts negatively or is repelled by the bacterial cell wall because they have