Examples include the malachite green counterstain to the fuchsine stain in the Gimenez staining technique and the eosin counterstain to haematoxylin in the H&E stain.
[1] In Gram staining, crystal violet stains only Gram-positive bacteria, and safranin counterstain is applied which stains all cells, allowing the identification of Gram-negative bacteria as well.
An alternative method uses dilute carbofluozide.
Counterstains are sometimes used to separate animals from organic detritus in microbiology studies.
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