bacillus
pronunciation
How to pronounce bacillus in British English:
UK [bəˈsɪləs]
How to pronounce bacillus in American English:
US [bəˈsɪləs]
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- Noun:
- aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil
Word Origin
- bacillus (n.)
- 1877, medical Latin, from Late Latin bacillus "wand," literally "little staff," diminutive of baculum "a stick," from PIE root *bak- "staff" (also source of Greek bakterion; see bacteria) + instrumentive suffix -culo. Introduced as a term in bacteriology 1853 by German botanist Ferdinand Cohn (1828-1898).
Example
- 1. The rod shaped anthrax bacteria : bacillus anthracis bacteria , the cause of anthrax .
- 2. The two varieties that passed safety inspection express a gene for a protein from the bacterium bacillus thuringiensis ( bt ) that 's toxic to insects .
- 3. Cano identified it as a bacterial spore related to the modern bacillus sphaericus , which is used to kill mosquito larvae .
- 4. Researchers at the university of california at davis have been investigating the technique-which involves injecting the bacterium bacillus pasteurii into the soil in a calcium-rich , alkaline mix-as a means to stabilize the ground in earthquake-prone regions .
- 5. To save space in the laboratory , the researchers decided to create two kinds of growing conditions for the common soil bacterium bacillus licheniformis using a single microtiter plate-a plastic tray with 96 little wells .