Library / English Dictionary

BACTERIA

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission; important as pathogens and for biochemical properties; taxonomy is difficult; often considered to be plants

Synonyms:

bacteria; bacterium

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("bacteria" is a kind of...):

micro-organism; microorganism (any organism of microscopic size)

Domain category:

microbiology (the branch of biology that studies microorganisms and their effects on humans)

Domain member category:

Gram-positive ((of bacteria) being or relating to a bacterium that retains the violet stain used in Gram's method)

peritrichous (covered all over with uniformly distributed flagella)

Gram-negative ((of bacteria) being of or relating to a bacterium that does not retain the violet stain used in Gram's method)

microphage (a neutrophil that ingests small things (as bacteria))

resistance (the degree of unresponsiveness of a disease-causing microorganism to antibiotics or other drugs (as in penicillin-resistant bacteria))

bioremediation (the act of treating waste or pollutants by the use of microorganisms (as bacteria) that can break down the undesirable substances)

immune reaction; immune response; immunologic response (a bodily defense reaction that recognizes an invading substance (an antigen: such as a virus or fungus or bacteria or transplanted organ) and produces antibodies specific against that antigen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bacteria"):

acidophil; acidophile (an organism that thrives in a relatively acid environment)

probiotic; probiotic bacterium; probiotic flora; probiotic microflora (a beneficial bacterium found in the intestinal tract of healthy mammals; often considered to be a plant)

bacteroid (a rodlike bacterium (especially any of the rod-shaped or branched bacteria in the root nodules of nitrogen-fixing plants))

eubacteria; eubacterium; true bacteria (a large group of bacteria having rigid cell walls; motile types have flagella)

Calymmatobacterium; genus Calymmatobacterium (a genus of bacterial rods containing only the one species that causes granuloma inguinale)

Francisella; genus Francisella (a genus of Gram-negative aerobic bacteria that occur as pathogens and parasite in many animals (including humans))

gonococcus; Neisseria gonorrhoeae (the pus-producing bacterium that causes gonorrhea)

legionella; Legionella pneumophilia (the motile aerobic rod-shaped Gram-negative bacterium that thrives in central heating and air conditioning systems and can cause Legionnaires' disease)

nitrobacterium (any of the bacteria in the soil that take part in the nitrogen cycle; they oxidize ammonium compounds into nitrites or oxidize nitrites into nitrates)

penicillin-resistant bacteria (bacteria that are unaffected by penicillin)

pus-forming bacteria (bacteria that produce pus)

rod (any rod-shaped bacterium)

diplococcus (Gram-positive bacteria usually occurring in pairs)

superbug (a strain of bacteria that is resistant to all antibiotics)

Derivation:

bacterial (relating to or caused by bacteria)

Credits

 Context examples: 

This bacteria is motile by flagella, oxidase and catalase positive, urease negative, hydrolyzes esculin and is unable to ferment glucose.

(Achromobacter piechaudii, NCI Thesaurus)

A species of anaerobic, Gram negative, diplococci shaped bacteria assigned to the phylum Firmicutes.

(Acidaminococcus fermentans, NCI Thesaurus)

This bacteria is motile by a single polar flagellum, oxidase positive, chemoorganotrophic, resistant to penicillin and can reduce nitrites.

(Acidovorax temperans, NCI Thesaurus)

This bacteria is motile by a single polar flagellum, oxidase positive, chemoorganotrophic, is resistant to penicillin and can grow in D fucose culture.

(Acidovorax delafieldii, NCI Thesaurus)

Manipulation of this process helps bacteria like Salmonella gain entry into cells they infect.

(Actin Branching Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

A species of anaerobic, Gram negative, cocci shaped bacteria in the phylum Firmicutes.

(Megasphaera elsdenii, NCI Thesaurus)

Minocycline-EDTA removes metals that bacteria use to form biofilms (thin layers stuck to surfaces).

(minocycline-EDTA, NCI Dictionary)

Minocycline binds to the bacterial 30S ribosomal subunit and interferes with the binding of tRNA to the ribosomal complex, thereby inhibiting protein translation in bacteria.

(Minocycline Hydrochloride, NCI Thesaurus)

Any bacteria that is not assigned to the species level but can be assigned to the Micrococcus genus level.

(Micrococcus, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Any bacteria that is not assigned to the species level but can be assigned to the Mitsuokella genus level.

(Mitsuokella, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)