Canadian Medical Guide > Organisms > Bacteria Terms and Definitions




Bacteria

Medical Definition: One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classifed by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anerobic, or facultatively anerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophic (via chemical reaction) or phototrophic (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: lithotrophic (from inorganic compounds) or organotrophic (from organic compounds); and by where they get their CARBON: heterotrophic (from organic sources) or autotrophic (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classifed by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.
Guide Notes: GEN; prefer specifics; relation to bact disease: Manual 22.12-22.16; presence of bacteria in organs vs infection: Manual 22.11; note many precoord BACT- terms (BACTERIAL PROTEINS, ANTIBODIES, BACTERIAL, etc); "coliform bacteria" = COLIFORM BACILLI see ENT
Bacteria Categories.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Atypical Bacterial Forms - Microorganisms that have undergone greater changes than normal in morphology, physiology, or cultural characteristics.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Bacteria, Aerobic
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Bacteria, Anaerobic
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Bacteroidetes - A phylum of bacteria comprised of three classes: Bacteroides, Flavobacteria, and Sphingobacteria.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Biofilms - Films of bacteria or other microbial organisms, usually embedded in extracellular polymers such as implanted medical devices, which adhere to surfaces submerged in, or subjected to, aquatic environments (From Singleton & Sainsbury, Dictionary of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, 2d ed). Biofilms consist of multilayers of microbial cells glued together to form microbial communities which are highly resistant to both phagocytes and antibiotics.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Chlorobi - A phylum of anoxygenic, phototrophic, CHLOROBI including the family Chlorobiaceae. They occur in aquatic sediments, sulfur springs, and hot springs and utilize reduced sulfur compounds instead of oxygen.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Chloroflexi - Phylum of green nonsulfur bacteria including the family Chloroflexaceae, among others.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Cyanobacteria - A subgroup of the oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria comprised of unicellular to multicellular photosynthetic bacteria possessing CHLOROPHYLL a and carrying out oxygenic PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Cyanobacteria are the only known organisms capable of fixing both CARBON DIOXIDE (in the presence of light) and NITROGEN. Formerly called blue-green algae, cyanobacteria were traditionally treated as ALGAE. By the late 20th century, however, it was realized that the blue-green algae were unique and lacked the traditional NUCLEUS and CHLOROPLASTS of the green and other algae. The comparison of nucleotide base sequence data from 16S and 5S rRNA indicates that cyanobacteria represent a moderately deep phylogenetic unit within the GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIA.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Endospore-Forming Bacteria - A group of rods or cocci whose taxonomic affinities are uncertain. They form endospores, thick-walled bodies formed within the vegetative cells of certain bacteria, able to withstand adverse environmental conditions for prolonged periods.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Fusobacteria - A phylum of anaerobic, gram-negative bacteria with a chemoorganotrophic heterotrophic metabolism. They are resident flora of the OROPHARYNX.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Gram-Negative Bacteria - Bacteria which lose crystal violet stain but are stained pink when treated by Gram's method.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Gram-Positive Bacteria - Bacteria which retain the crystal violet stain when treated by Gram's method.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Proteobacteria - A phylum of bacteria consisting of the purple bacteria and their relatives which form a branch of the eubacterial tree. This group of predominantly gram-negative bacteria is classified based on homology of equivalent nucleotide sequences of 16S ribosomal RNA or by hybridization of ribosomal RNA or DNA with 16S and 23S ribosomal RNA.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Spirochaetales - An order of slender, flexuous, helically coiled bacteria, with one or more complete turns in the helix.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Sulfur-Reducing Bacteria - A group of gram-negative, anaerobic bacteria that is able to oxidize acetate completely to carbon dioxide using elemental sulfur as the electron acceptor.

Bacteria Medical Definitions and Terms

CANADIAN MEDICAL GUIDE

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