| cholera bacillus | <bacteria> Bacterium that causes cholera, the life threatening aspects of which are caused by the exotoxin (see cholera toxin). Short, slightly curved rods, highly motile (single polar flagellum), gram-negative. Adhere to intestinal epithelium (adhesion mechanism unknown) and produce enzymes (neuraminidase, proteases) that facilitate access of the bacterium to the epithelial surface. (18 Nov 1997) |
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| Pfeiffer's bacillus | <bacteria> Bacterium sometimes associated with influenza virus infections, causes pneumonia and meningitis. (18 Nov 1997) |
| mist bacillus | A saprophytic species of bacteria found in smegma from the genitalia of humans and many of the lower animals; it is also found in soil, dust, and water. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Moeller's grass bacillus | A saprophytic bacterium widely distributed in soil and dust and on plants. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Weeks' bacillus | <bacteria> Bacterium sometimes associated with influenza virus infections, causes pneumonia and meningitis. (18 Nov 1997) |
| colon bacillus | <bacteria> The archetypal bacterium for biochemists, used very extensively in experimental work. A rod shaped gram-negative bacillus (0.5 x 3-5 m) abundant in the large intestine (colon) of mammals. Abbreviation: E. Coli (18 Nov 1997) |
| Welch's bacillus | The most common aetiologic agent of gas gangrene. It is differentiable into several distinct types based on the distribution of twelve different toxins. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Morgan's bacillus | Type (and only) species of the genus Morganella. Synonym: Morgan's bacillus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| comma bacillus | <bacteria> Bacterium that causes cholera, the life threatening aspects of which are caused by the exotoxin (see cholera toxin). Short, slightly curved rods, highly motile (single polar flagellum), gram-negative. Adhere to intestinal epithelium (adhesion mechanism unknown) and produce enzymes (neuraminidase, proteases) that facilitate access of the bacterium to the epithelial surface. (18 Nov 1997) |
| plague bacillus | The bacterial cause of the bubonic plague which in the year 541 (as the black death) and later in the middle ages decimated europe. The effects of the plague are described in the nursery rhyme we all fall down. It is transmitted to humans by the bite of fleas that have fed on infected animals, mostly rodents. Plague occurs in the u.s. It is treatable with antibiotics but, if not treated promptly, can promptly lead to death. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Whitmore's bacillus | A species found in cases of melioidosis in humans and other animals and in soil and water in tropical regions. Synonym: Whitmore's bacillus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Much's bacillus | <bacteria, microbiology> An alleged non-acid-fast granular form of the tubercle bacillus; not demonstrable by the Ziehl stain, but takes a modified Gram stain; it is said to be the form present in the tuberculous skin lesion. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Plaut's bacillus | Probably Fusobacterium nucleatum, differentiated by some from Vincent's bacillus; the former is motile and nonpathogenic, the latter is nonmotile and pathogenic. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Plotz bacillus | A small, Gram-positive bacterium suggested as the pathogenic agent of typhus fever. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Hansen's bacillus | A species of gram-positive, aerobic bacteria that causes leprosy in man. Its organisms are generally arranged in clumps, rounded masses, or in groups of bacilli side by side. (12 Dec 1998) |