One of the most important and widely used procedures for differentially
characterizing bacteria is the gram stain. Bacteria are divided into two groups, based on whether
they retain or lose the 'primary stain' (crystal violet) after mordanting with iodine, treatment with
alcohol and counter staining with safranin. Gram positive coccoid artifacts may be present in
your stained sample. This is an artifact present in the safranin strain, not a contaminant in your
bacteria sample.