Cynthia Alonzo, M.S. Version 42-0240-00-01
Lab Report Assistant This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor.
Questions
A. List three reasons why you might choose to stain a particular slide rather than view it as a wet-mount.
B. Define the following terms:
Chromophore:
Acidic Dye:
Basic Dye:
C. What is the difference between direct and indirect staining?
D. What is heat fixing?
E. Why is it necessary to ensure that your specimens are completely air dried prior to heat fixing?
F. Describe what you observed in your plaque smear wet-mount, direct stained slide, and indirectly stained slide. What were the similarities? What were the differences?
Experiment
Bacterial Morphology
84
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G. Describe what you observed in your cheek smear wet-mount, direct stained slide, and indirectly stained slide. What were the similarities? What were the differences?
H. Describe what you observed in your yeast wet-mount, direct stained slide, and indirectly stained slide. What were the similarities? What were the differences?
I. Were the cell types the same in all three specimen sets: yeast, plaque, and cheek? How were they similar? How were they different?