Crystal violet or Gentian violet (also known as Methyl Violet 10B, hexamethyl pararosaniline chloride, or pyoctanin(e)) is a triarylmethane dye. The dye is used as a histological stain and in Gram’s method of classifying bacteria. Crystal violet has antibacterial, antifungal, and anthelmintic properties and was formerly important as a topical antiseptic. The medical use of the dye has been largely superseded by more modern drugs, although it is still listed by the World Health Organization.
The name "gentian violet" was originally used for a mixture of methyl pararosaniline dyes (methyl violet) but is now often considered a synonym for crystal violet. The name refers to its colour, being like that of the petals of a gentian flower; it is not made from gentians or from violets.
Read more about Crystal Violet: Production, Dye Colour, Popular Culture
Other articles related to "crystal violet, violet":
... Crystal violet lactone (CVL) is a leuco dye, a lactone derivate of crystal violet 10B ...
... Crystal violet, when combined with a suitable mordant, stains cell walls purple ... Crystal violet is an important component in Gram staining ...
... the medics are portrayed as using gentian violet on feet and gums as a panacea ... in World War I American soldiers returning after a leave were irrigated with Gentian violet to prevent sexually transmitted disease ... matron, who 'painted my head with gentian violet' ...
... cell wall made of peptidoglycan (50-90% of cell envelope), which are stained purple by crystal violet, whereas Gram-negative bacteria have a thinner ... There are four basic steps of the Gram stain Applying a primary stain (crystal violet) to a heat-fixed smear of a bacterial culture ... The addition of a mordant, which binds to crystal violet and traps it in the cell (Gram's iodine) Rapid decolorization with alcohol or acetone, and Counterstaining with safranin ...
Famous quotes containing the words violet and/or crystal:
“At the violet hour, the evening hour that strives
Homeward, and brings the sailor home from sea,
The typist home at teatime, clears her breakfast, lights
Her stove, and lays out food in tins.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“The crystal sphere of thought is as concentrical as the geological structure of the globe. As our soils and rocks lie in strata, concentric strata, so do all men’s thinkings run laterally, never vertically.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)