| acetoclastic bacteria | <microbiology> Bacteria that use only acetic acid and produce methane during anaerobic fermentation. Origin: L. Acetum = vinegar. (06 May 1997) |
|---|---|
| acetogenic bacteria | <microbiology> Bacteria that convert carbon dioxide to sugars into acetate. Origin: L. Acetum = vinegar. (06 May 1997) |
| anaerobic bacteria | Bacteria which thrive in the absence of oxygen. (27 Sep 1997) |
| antibody-coated bacteria test, urinary | Fluorescent antibody technique for visualizing antibody-bacteria complexes in urine. The presence or absence of antibody-coated bacteria in urine correlates with localization of urinary tract infection in the kidney or bladder, respectively. (12 Dec 1998) |
| bacteria | <microbiology> One of the two major classes of prokaryotic organism (the other being the Cyanobacteria). Bacteria are small (linear dimensions of around 1 m), noncompartmentalised, with circular DNA and ribosomes of 70S. Protein synthesis differs from that of eukaryotes and many antibacterial antibiotics interfere with protein synthesis, but do not affect the infected host. Recently bacteria have been subdivided into Eubacteria and Archaebacteria, although some would consider the Archaebacteria to be a third kingdom, distinct from both Eubacteria and Eukaryotes. The Eubacteria can be further subdivided on the basis of their staining using Gram stain. Since the difference between gram-positive and gram-negative depends upon a fundamental difference in cell wall structure it is therefore more soundly based than classification on gross morphology alone (into cocci, bacilli, etc.). (02 Jan 1998) |
| bacteria-free stage of bacterial endocarditis | Endocarditis described prior to the antibiotic era and presumably due to spontaneous healing of the bacterial vegetations. (05 Mar 2000) |
| blue-green bacteria | <organism> Modern term for the blue green algae, prokaryotic cells that use chlorophyll on intracytoplasmic membranes for photosynthesis. The blue green colour is due to the presence of phycobiliproteins. Found as single cells, colonies or simple filaments. In Anabaena, in which the cells are arranged as a filament, heterocysts capable of nitrogen fixation occur at regular intervals. According to the endosymbiont theory Cyanobacteria are the progenitors of chloroplasts. (18 Nov 1997) |
| budding and appendaged bacteria | Bacteria that commonly possess unusual shapes, have complex life cycles, and divide by budding. Many have appendages which are sufficiently prominent that they can be detected by phase-contrast light microscopy. (12 Dec 1998) |
| magnetotactic bacteria | <microbiology> Bacteria that can orient themselves in the earth's magnetic field due to the presence of magnetosomes. (09 Oct 1997) |
| gliding bacteria | <microbiology> A type of bacteria which moves by gliding or creeping along solid substrates. (17 Dec 1997) |
| gram-negative aerobic bacteria | <microbiology> A large group of aerobic bacteria which show up as pink (negative) when treated by the gram-staining method. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-negative anaerobic bacteria | <microbiology> A large group of anaerobic bacteria which show up as pink (negative) when treated by the gram-staining method. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-negative bacteria | <microbiology> Bacteria which lose crystal violet stain but are stained pink when treated by gram's method. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-negative chemolithotrophic bacteria | <microbiology> A large group of bacteria including those which oxidise ammonia or nitrite, metabolise sulfur and sulfur compounds, or deposit iron and/or manganese oxides. (12 Dec 1998) |
| gram-negative oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria | <microbiology> Widely distributed unicellular or multicellular bacteria. The cyanobacteria use chlorophyll a and phycobilins for oxygenic photosynthesis while genera in the prochlorales use both chlorophyll a and b but not phycobilins. (12 Dec 1998) |