In this video, we're going to begin our lesson on simple staining. Simple staining, as its name implies, is going to be a relatively simple staining procedure that uses only one single dye to stain the specimen. Now there are 2 important things that you should remember regarding simple stains. We have numbered down below, 12. The first important thing that you should remember about simple stains is that the inside of a cell is actually negatively charged with respect to the outside of the cell, which is going to be more positively charged. Notice down below we are showing you an image of a bacterial cell, and we're specifically saying that the inside of the bacterial cell is negatively charged with respect to the outside. You can see all of these negative charges throughout the inside of the bacterial cell to remind you that the inside of the bacterial cell is negatively charged with respect to the outside, which is going to be more positively charged. So, that's the first important thing to remember about these simple stains.
The second important thing to remember about the simple stains is that these simple dyes can either be basic or acidic dyes. These dyes are only going to be effective after they react. If we take a look at our image down below, notice on the left-hand side, we're showing you a basic dye, and on the right-hand side, we're showing you an acidic dye. The basic dye is also sometimes referred to as a positively charged dye, and the acidic dye is sometimes referred to as a negatively charged dye. The reason for that has to do because these dyes are named based on after their reaction. Recall that bases will remove and lower the number of hydrogen ions in the environment by picking up hydrogen ions. Notice that this basic dye is acting as a base and removing the hydrogen ion from the environment and picking it up and acquiring it. Because this basic dye is picking up a hydrogen ion which is positively charged, the basic dye is becoming more positive. That's why basic dyes are known as positively charged dyes. Now acidic dyes on the other hand are going to act as acids, and recall that acids will increase the number of hydrogen ions in the environment by releasing hydrogen ions to the environment. Notice that our acidic dye here is starting with the hydrogen ion, but after it reacts notice that it releases the hydrogen ion to the environment, increasing the number of hydrogen ions in the environment, and it is acting as an acid. But because it releases a positively charged hydrogen ion, the acidic dye itself is becoming more negatively charged. That's why acidic dyes are known as negatively charged dyes as well.
This will be important to remember, especially when we move on to our next video and continue to talk more and more about simple dyes. But for now, this here concludes our brief introduction to an assessment. Once again, we're going to learn more about simple dyes as we move forward. So, I'll see you in our next video.