Results and Discussion

Paramecium are single celled protists naturally found in aquatic habitats. They are
typically oblong or slipper-shaped and are covered with short hairy portrusions called cilia, which
aids in their locomotion and feeding (Vidyasagar, 2016). They are eukaryotic and are part of
groups of organisms called Ciliates.
The Unstained Paramecium appears as small/ovoid slipper like organisms moving or
swimming in fast speeds. Transparent and colorless structures such as vacuoles and cell
membrane are visible.
In table 1, only groups 1, 4, and 8 have results for unstained Paramecium. The
Paramecium in groups 1,4, and 8 appear as small ovoid transparent organisms with the structures
such as vacuoles and cell membrane more visible on group 4’s result.
Table 1. Paramecium sp. unstained

The Nigrosin Relief Method is staining technique that uses an acidic dye in staining the
cell surface. The acidic dye used is the Nigrosin (0.1 g/mL dH2O), which is made from the
oxidation of aniline, an organic compound with phenyl group attached to an amino acid. In
physical form, the dye appears as black crystals or powder which is soluble in water. This
method uses the Negative Staining Technique to study the morphology, size and arrangement
of bacteria. In this technique, the acidic dye Nigrosin readily gives up Hydrogen ion which
makes the chromophore of the dye become negatively charged. Since most of the cell wall and
the Nigrosin are negatively charge, these two like negative charges repel each other which
makes the cell unstained and the area around the cells to appear as dark background (Aryal,
2018).
 The cell appears transparent in a dark background which makes the structures such as
nucleus and cell membrane to be clearer and more visible.
In table 2, groups 3,4,8 and 10 have results for Paramecium stained with Nigrosin.
Group 10 has a slightly dark background which made the structures such as nucleus and cell
membrane to be more visible and clear.
Table 2. Paramecium sp. stained with Nigrosin

References:

Aryal, S. (2018). Negative Staining- Principle, Reagents, Procedure and Result. Retrieved from

https://microbiologyinfo.com/negative-staining-principle-reagents-procedure-and-result/.

Jessop, N. (1995). Zoology, The Animal kingdom. N.Y.C. Mcgraw Hill.

Vidyasagar, A. (2016). What is a Paramecium? Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/55178-

paramecium.html