Talk:Gram-negative
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Gram-staining characteristics are used for clinical as well as taxonomic purposes, and specific examples relating to specific pathogens should probably be retained. -- Someone else 23:22 May 1, 2003 (UTC)
Gram-staining is useful clinically primarily because it places limits on what group a bacterium belongs to, and is only one of several tools necessary to identify a pathogen. I don't think we should try and make this page into a full guide for identifying gram-negative bacteria, and while certainly some examples are helpful, the amount given on the page is overkill. Really, how critical is it to mention Bdellovibrio, as opposed to the hundreds of other gram-negative genera that could be listed here?
I get the strong impression that the list was primarily there as a way of linking to pages on specific bacteria, which otherwise would be orphans. Relatively unimportant bacteria that belong to larger groups, though, can be linked from those groups. Saying that proteobacteria are gram-negative and the acetic acid bacteria are proteobacteria tells me that acetic acid bacteria are gram-negative, and more. I don't see the reason for giving examples beyond better-known examples like Escherichia coli and Salmonella.
I agree that the page needn't enumerate all gram-negative bacteria. On the other hand, if there's an article on any particular one, why not list it? My point is that someone examining a specimen categorizes a given bacteria as gram-negative or gram-positive, without necessarily further explicitly classifying them (e.g. "It's gram-positive cocci in chains, must be strep" vs "It's gram-positive cocci in chains, probably a Firmacute". Some notable human gram-negative pathogens like shigella, H. influenzae, Yersinia, Klebsiella' and Vibrio vulnificus could be explicitly added: I guess I'm just suggesting that the clinical names that are used be present in addition to any higher taxonomic classifications. -- Someone else 00:31 May 2, 2003 (UTC)
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[edit] Harder to Kill?
I heard that gram-negative bacteria are harder to kill than gram-positive bacteria. Is this true, and why? If it's true, I think this could be added to the article. authraw 01:09, 25 February 2006 (UTC)
- No, it's not really true. More precisely, it isn't possible to make that broad a generalization without a laundry list of exceptions. For example, two common yet extraordinarily difficult to treat pathogenic organisms - Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis - are both Gram-positives. MarcoTolo 03:37, 25 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Characteristics
I think this section should make clear if these characteristics are shown in all gram-negative bacteria, whether they are just more common in gram-negative than gram-positive bacteria, or whether they are characteristics that might lead to a bacteria taking up the dye. At the moment I don't know which is correct. Djr36 23:03, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] please explain the link behind gram-negative cell walls and pathogenesis
I'm not at all familiar with microbiology and I ended up here through a series of tangents, which often happens when I read wikipedia. Anyway, after reading this article I felt that an important question was left unanswered; what is it about the structure of gram-negative cell walls that causes it to be found commonly in pathogenic bacteria?
If there is a strong correlation between this cell wall type and pathogenesis, then it begs for at least a brief explanation. The short answer from a friend (who is a periodontist, not a microbiologist), is that the cell wall is highly insoluble and therefor more resistant to phagocytosis.
That's all I felt the article was lacking. If someone would be kind enough to elaborate, I would appreciate it.
12.190.32.3 02:11, 14 July 2006 (UTC) Thanks, Galen Matson
[edit] category for gram negative bacteria
I recently created a new [| Gram negative bacteria] also did [Gram positive bacteria] I figured it would be usefull if we put all of the bacteria into these categories on wikipedia mentioning it here so those categories can be populated
