Library / English Dictionary

MYCOBACTERIUM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: mycobacteria   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rod-shaped bacteria some saprophytic or causing diseases

Synonyms:

mycobacteria; mycobacterium

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

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

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

Mycobacterium tuberculosis; tubercle bacillus (cause of tuberculosis)

leprosy bacillus; Mycobacterium leprae (cause of leprosy)

Holonyms ("mycobacterium" is a member of...):

genus Mycobacterium (nonmotile Gram-positive aerobic bacteria)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Mycobacterium leprae is pathogenic, being the causative agent of leprosy.

(Mycobacterium leprae, NCI Thesaurus)

The use of acid-fast stain to examine a specimen for the presence of acid-fast microorganisms, specifically mycobacteria.

(Acid Fast Bacillae Staining Method, NCI Thesaurus)

M. abscessus is a rapidly growing mycobacterium found in water, soil and dust, and can cause a variety of serious infections of the skin, soft tissues and lungs, especially in persons with chronic lung diseases.

(Mycobacterium abscessus, NCI Thesaurus)