Opening the book…
Review Purpose
This review helps you check what you learned in Section Two before moving on. Work through each question set on the pages that follow, then use the Click to reveal answer option to check yourself. These questions are for practice and self-assessment—they are not graded.
- Distinguish the basic bacterial shapes and identify the function of common bacterial cell structures?
- Explain the purpose of the smear and of heat versus chemical fixation, and why specimens are stained?
- Differentiate acidic and basic dyes, and describe what simple staining reveals about a sample?
- Define differential staining and the terms primary stain, secondary stain, and mordant?
- Describe the purpose of the Gram stain, its protocol, and its reagents (crystal violet, Gram's iodine, decolorizer, and safranin)?
- Differentiate Gram-positive from Gram-negative reactions, interpret common sources of error, and explain the Gram stain's importance in disease detection and diagnosis?
- Explain the purpose of the acid-fast stain, the role of mycolic acids, and name bacterial species that are acid-fast?
- Distinguish an endospore from a vegetative cell, describe the endospore stain, and name endospore-forming pathogens and the diseases they cause?
- Explain what a capsule is, why the capsule stain is a negative staining technique, and how capsules benefit the cell?
This page titled 2.7: Section Two Review was last modified on Sat, 25 Jul 2026 03:42:51 GMT and is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Sherry Smith.
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