| BE | bacillary emulsion; bacterial endocarditis; barium enema; Barrett's esophagus; base excess; below-el... |
|---|---|
| BEC | bacterial endocarditis; behavioral emergency committee; blood ethyl alcohol; bromo-ergocryptine |
| BI | background interval; bacterial or bactericidal index; base-in [prism]; basilar impression; Billroth ... |
| BIP | bacterial intravenous protein; biparietal; bismuth iodoform paraffin; Blue Cross interim payment; br... |
| BPE | bacterial phosphatidylethanolamine |
| fimbriae, bacterial | Thin, hairlike appendages, 1 to 20 microns in length and often occurring in large numbers, present on the cells of gram-negative bacteria, particularly enterobacteriaceae and neisseria. Unlike flagella, they do not possess motility, but being protein (pilin) in nature, they possess antigenic and haemagglutinating properties. They are of medical importance because some fimbriae mediate the attachment of bacteria to cells via adhesins (adhesins, bacterial). Bacterial fimbriae refer to common pili, to be distinguished from the preferred use of "pili", which is confined to sex pili (pili, sex). (12 Dec 1998) |
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| luminescence, bacterial | The emission of light by bacteria. It is applied to studies on bacterial viability, metabolism, genetics, adhesiveness, and other physiological properties. (12 Dec 1998) |