What is a mordant in microbiology?

A mordant is a substance that increases the affinity of the cell wall for a stain by binding to the primary stain, thus forming an insoluble complex, which gets trapped in the cell wall. In the Gram stain reaction, the CV and iodine form an insoluble complex (CV-I), which serves to turn the smear a dark purple color.
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What is a mordant in staining?

A mordant is a chemical that serves as a link between the dye and the substrate. The result is an insoluble compound that helps adhere the dye to the cells. The most useful mordants for hematoxylin are salts of aluminum, iron, tungsten, and occasionally lead. These are classified respectively as : Alum hematoxylins.
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What is mordant in Gram staining?

The mordant is Gram's Iodine. This binds to the crystal violet making a large complex that adheres to the cell membrane. Gram's Iodine is allowed to sit for 30 seconds then the decolorizor, 95% ethanol is added.
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What is a mordant and why is it used?

A mordant or dye fixative is a substance used to set (i.e. bind) dyes on fabrics by forming a coordination complex with the dye, which then attaches to the fabric (or tissue). It may be used for dyeing fabrics or for intensifying stains in cell or tissue preparations.
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What is a mordant microbiology quizlet?

A mordant is a chemical that forms a complex with the primary dye and the cell wall of the cell. The mordant binds the primary dye more tightly to the bacterial cell. The decolorizing agent removes the primary dye from a cell so that the cell is colorless.
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Natural Dye Science - What Is A Mordant?



What is a mordant in Gram staining quizlet?

The mordant used is Iodine. It is added to chemically change the shape of the dye molecule and therefore trap it in the cell wall.
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What and where is the mordant?

A mordant is a substance used in fabric and tissue dyeing that allows the dye to stick to the substrate. Clothing and tissue samples can be dyed without a mordant, and the dye may appear quite vivid. If the clothing or tissue is exposed to water, though, the dye will wash right off.
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What is used as a mordant?

Salts of chromium, aluminum, copper, iron, tin, and cobalt are commonly used as mordants. Since the mordant affects the electron distribution and density within the dye, the color of the dyed fabric tends to change.
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What is the function of a mordant and which reagent?

A mordant intensifies a stain or can be used to coat structures such as flagella for viewing. what type of cell, gram-positive or gram-negative, would you find lipopolysaccharide in its cell wall? List the reagents of the gram stain technique in order and their general role in the staining process.
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Why is iodine used as a mordant?

The mordant is a substance used in conjunction with a dye to increase its staining ability. For example, in Gram stain, Gram's iodine is used to form a complex with crystal violet that makes the dye molecules larger and better able to adhere to the sample.
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What is a mordant in chemistry?

A mordant is a chemical that fixes or intensifies a dye or stain. In fabric dyeing, a mordant forms a coordination complex with the dye, helping the dye attach to the fabric. This polyvalent coordination complex is called a lake. Mordants also intensify stains in microbiological slides or tissue preparations.
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What is the mordant in Endospore staining?

Staining mechanism

Malachite green can be left on the slide for 15 minutes or more to stain the spores. It takes a long time for the spores to stain due to their density, so heat acts as the mordant when performing this differential stain.
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Which reagent is used as mordant in Gram staining?

Iodine solution/Gram's Iodine (mordant that fixes crystal violet to cell wall)
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Is urine a mordant?

Stale urine–or more precisely the ammonia in it–is a good mordant. Molecules of ammonia can form a web around chromophores, helping to develop the color of dyes as well as to bind it to cloth. Specific chamberpots dedicated to urine helped families collect their pee for use as mordants.
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How is alum used as a mordant?

For every 250g of the dry wool or silk, use 25g of alum mordant in 5 litres of water. Add 10g of Cream of Tartar to help soften the fibre and brighten the colours. Gradually heat the mordant bath to around 80°C for 30 minutes and allow to cool slowly. Remove the wool and squeeze to remove excess liquor.
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What is the most common mordant?

Potassium aluminum sulfate is the mordant most frequently used by dyers for protein (animal) and cellulose (plant) fibres and fabrics. It improves light and washfastness of all natural dyes and keeps colours clear. It is inexpensive and safe to use.
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Why is Gram's iodine called a mordant quizlet?

Why is Gram's iodine called a mordant? The iodine acts as a mordant and binds to the crystal violet.
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What mordant is used in Gram staining mordants enlarge a molecule?

The mordant used is Iodine. Mordant makes already large Crystal Violet dye molecules even larger by crosslinking them and fixing them to the cell wall, making it harder to remove them.
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What are the dyes used in Gram staining?

In the Gram Stain technique, two positively charged dyes are used: crystal violet and safranin.
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What color is mordant in the Gram stain?

Gram positive cells take up the crystal violet, which is then fixed in the cell with the iodine mordant. This forms a crystal-violet iodine complex which remains in the cell even after decolorizing.
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What is the purpose of adding or using a mordant such as iodine or heat during a staining procedure?

A mordant "fixes" the dye to the organism, so that they dye is kept in place.
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What is used as a mordant in the acid fast stain method?

During the acid fast stain, heat is used as a mordant to allow the primary stain to penetrate the waxy mycolic acid layer. The heat will prevent the cells from being destained using acid-alcohol.
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What reagent would you use for the mordant in the endospore stain?

Staining procedure

Add a thin film of nigrosin reagent as a counterstain. Visualize the slide under the oil immersion lens (1,000X) for the presence of endospores.
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What dyes are used in endospore stain?

The Malachite green staining (Schaeffer-Fulton method ) is the most common method used to perform endospore staining. Malachite green stain can also used as a simple stain for bacterial cells. The Schaeffer-Fulton method uses heat to push the primary dye (malachite green) into the endospore.
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What reagent is used to stain bacterial spores?

Safranin is then applied to counterstain any cells which have been decolorized. At the end of the staining process, vegetative cells will be pink, and endospores will be dark green.
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