bacterium

1. (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 (synset 101351171)
   referred to in: microbiology - the branch of biology that studies microorganisms and their effects on humans
   associated with:

   • 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
   • bioremediation - the act of treating waste or pollutants by the use of microorganisms (as bacteria) that can break down the undesirable substances
   • resistance - the degree of unresponsiveness of a disease-causing microorganism to antibiotics or other drugs (as in penicillin-resistant bacteria)
   • microphage - a neutrophil that ingests small things (as bacteria)
   • peritrichous - covered all over with uniformly distributed flagella
   • gram-positive - (of bacteria) being or relating to a bacterium that retains the violet stain used in Gram's method
   • gram-negative - (of bacteria) being of or relating to a bacterium that does not retain the violet stain used in Gram's method
   is a type of: micro-organism, microorganism - any organism of microscopic size
   subtypes:

   • 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
   same as: bacteria

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