Microbiology Lab Question

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Has anyone done the capsule stain of bacteria?

In my lab we did the capsule stain and I was only able to create a capsule stain slide for Klebsiellla pneumoniae. I did not have time to create a slide for Staphylococcus epidermidis.

Does anyone know if S. epidermidis show a sign of having a capsule after under going capsule staining?

If it doesn't, how does the slide look for it? Is it just a pink background and a dark redish stained bacteria with no sign of a capsule?

Thank you for any help!!

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Specializes in Operating Room.

Apparently some strains of S. epidermidis do have capsules, some don't. Also, here are 2 slide pics of S. epidermidis. Try doing a search online to view other photos. Hope this helps.

"Many Staphylococcus epidermidis strains possess capsule or slime layers"

http://mic.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/147/3/757

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Thanks for the links! I had seen those previously when trying to find the answers doing a web search.

I had to resort to asking my lab TA what the answer was. Now she knows I didn't create a S. epiderimis slide for the capsule stain and I have to write that in my lab report. I was trying to avoid that, but oh well...

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