Gram-positive bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet by Gram staining.

This is in contrast to Gram-negative bacteria, which cannot retain the crystal violet stain, instead taking up the counterstain (safranin or fuchsine) and appearing red or pink. Gram-positive organisms are able to retain the crystal violet stain because of their thick peptidoglycan layer, which is superficial to the cell membrane. This is in contrast to Gramnegative bacteria, which may have a thick or thin peptidoglycan layer that is located between two cell membranes. Plasma membrane, PG layer and cell wall are three distinct structures. For example, plant cells have rigid cell walls in addition to an outer plasma membrane, and animal cells have only plasma membranes. Thus, cell walls are responsible for structural support and rigidity that plant cells need to surviveas they are not motile organisms, and their survival depends on strong, rigid structures. Animal cells and gram-positive cells (to a certain degree) are amorphous and can change shape, since the outer plasma membrane consists of a dynamic lipid bilayer without the constraints of an additional outer cell wall (which would hinder survival in animal cells).