What is bacteria in medical terms?
Bacteria: Single-celled microorganisms that can exist either as independent (free-living) organisms or as parasites (dependent on another organism for life). The plural of bacterium.
What is the vocabulary of bacteria?
Bacteria are microscopic living organisms, usually one-celled, that can be found everywhere. A grammar note: The word bacteria is the plural form of “bacterium” and so should be written as plural, as in “Many bacteria are harmless.”
What are the major types of bacteria?
Bacteria are classified into five groups according to their basic shapes: spherical (cocci), rod (bacilli), spiral (spirilla), comma (vibrios) or corkscrew (spirochaetes). They can exist as single cells, in pairs, chains or clusters. Bacteria are found in every habitat on Earth: soil, rock, oceans and even arctic snow.
What is the meaning of bacteria?
bacteria – (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. bacterium.
Can bacteria infect other bacteria?
Bacteria can infect any area of the body. Pneumonia, meningitis, and food poisoning are just a few illnesses that may be caused by harmful bacteria. Bacteria come in three basic shapes: rod-shaped (bacilli), spherical (cocci), or helical (spirilla). Bacteria may also be classified as gram-positive or gram-negative.
What is the definition of the word bacteria?
Bacteria Definition. Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms with prokaryotic cells, which are single cells that do not have organelles or a true nucleus and are less complex than eukaryotic cells. Bacteria with a capital B refers to the domain Bacteria, one of the three domains of life.
What is the etymology of the word bacteria?
Etymology The word bacteria is the plural of the New Latin bacterium, which is the latinisation of the Greek βακτήριον (bakterion), the diminutive of βακτηρία (bakteria), meaning “staff, cane”, because the first ones to be discovered were rod-shaped. Origin and early evolution Main article: Evolution of bacteria