Which of the Following is NOT True Regarding the Acid-Fast

Question

Which of the following is NOT true regarding the acid-fast stain?
A)It is used to identify members of the genus Mycobacterium.
B)Acid-fast cells retain the primary dye after treatment with acid-alcohol.
C)If cells are acid-fast,they are gram-negative.
D)Acid-fast cells appear red in a completed acid-fast stain.
E)Non-acid-fast microbes appear blue in a completed acid-fast stain.

Accepted Answer

Acid-fast staining is not related to Gram-negative staining. Gram staining is a differential staining method that classifies bacteria into Gram-positive or Gram-negative based on the differences in their cell wall structure. On the other hand, acid-fast staining is used to differentiate acid-fast bacteria from non-acid-fast bacteria based on their ability to retain a lipid-soluble dye (carbol fuchsin) even after treatment with an acid-alcohol solution.