SMEAR PREPARATION
The preparation of a smear is required for many laboratory procedures, including the Gram-stain. The purpose of making a smear is to fix the bacteria onto the slide and to prevent the sample from being lost during a staining procedure. A smear can be prepared from a solid or broth medium. Below are some guidelines for preparing a smear for a Gram-stain.
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<font><font><strong>1.</strong> Place one needle of solid bacterial growth or two loops<br />
of liquid bacterial growth in the center of a clean slide.<br />
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<strong>2.</strong> If working from a solid medium, add one drop (and only one drop)<br />
of water to your specimen with a water bottle. If using a broth<br />
medium, do not add the water.<br />
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<strong>3.</strong> Now, with your inoculating loop, mix the specimen with the water<br />
completely and spread the mixture out to cover about half of the<br />
total slide area.<br />
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<strong>4.</strong> Place the slide on a slide warmer and wait for it to dry. The smear is now ready for the staining procedure.<br />
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