SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF BACTERIAS AND THEIR STORIES
Scientific names are often hard for the general public to understand. However, like other words, these names also have meanings, but they are derived from languages other than English, such as Greek or Latin. Often, understanding the meanings of these words helps us grasp various characteristics of the organisms. Today, we will talk about the scientific names of certain bacteria and understand why specific names were given to them.
Staphylococcus aureus
The genus name Staphylococcus comes from the Greek words “staphyle,” meaning “bunch of grapes,” and “kokkos,” meaning “berry,” referring to a spherical shape. Combining these words refers to the bacterium’s characteristic grape-like clusters. The species name aureus means “golden” in Latin, describing the color of the colonies. “Aurum” is the name for gold in the periodic table.
Bacillus anthracis
The genus name Bacillus comes from the Latin word “bacillum,” meaning “small rod,” referring to the shape of the bacteria. The species name anthracis is derived from the Greek word “anthrax,” meaning “coal,” referring to the black lesions or spots caused by the disease. There are various types of coal; anthracite is the second-highest rank of coal. It is hard, black, and has high carbon content.
Bacillus subtilis
The genus name Bacillus is derived from Latin, meaning “little staff” or “rod.” It reflects the rod-shaped appearance of the bacteria. The species name subtilis is also derived from Latin, meaning “fine” or “delicate.” We get the word “subtle” from the same origin.
It means something difficult to notice, simple enough that when something is thinner, it is difficult to notice, or it is subtle. This describes the bacterium’s appearance under a microscope, as it is slender and less robust compared to some other bacterial species.
Escherichia coli (E. coli)
Named after Theodor Escherich, who first isolated the bacterium, coli means “of the colon.” The word coli is related to the Greek word “koilos,” meaning “hollow” or “cavity,” referring to the intestines. The word coelom shares the same origin; it is a fluid-filled cavity that develops between the body wall and the digestive system in animals.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Pseudo- comes from the Greek word “pseudēs,” meaning “false” or “deceptive.” -Monas comes from the Greek word “monas,” meaning “a single unit” or “a single organism.” So, Pseudomonas literally translates to “false unit” or “false single organism.”
When scientists first tried to categorize and name different types of bacteria, they looked at the physical and behavioral characteristics (called phenotypic characteristics) of each type of bacterium under a microscope. This is why many bacterial genus names are based on their physical appearance, such as Coccus (spherical shape), Bacillus (rod-like shape), and Staphylococcus (clusters resembling grapes).
For the bacteria we now call Pseudomonas, scientists had a hard time clearly distinguishing them from other types of Gram-negative bacteria based only on these physical traits. Gram-negative refers to a type of bacteria that don’t retain the purple Gram stain. The scientists were unsure exactly where to place these bacteria and how to separate them from other Gram-negative bacteria. This initial uncertainty is likely why they chose the name Pseudomonas—the prefix “pseudo-” means “false” or “not real.”
Aeruginosa comes from the Latin word “aerugo,” meaning “copper rust.” Copper rust refers to the blue-green color that forms on copper or bronze when exposed to the weather. The name aeruginosa refers to the characteristic blue-green pigment produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in laboratory cultures, as this color is similar to copper rust.
Vibrio cholerae
Vibrio means “vibrating” in Latin, referring to the bacterium’s movements, and cholerae refers to the cholera disease it causes. “Chol-” in cholerae comes from Proto-Indo-European ghel-, meaning “to shine” or “to be yellow or green,” which relates to the color of bile.
The term “cholesterol” combines Greek roots to describe a substance (“chole” for bile and “sterol” for a solid organic molecule). Cholesterol was first identified in gallstones, which resembled white crystalline solid substances. That is why the compound is named so.
“Diarrhea” is composed of two words:
Dia- (prefix): This means “through” or “thoroughly.”
Rhein: This verb means “to flow.”
When combined, diarrhea literally means “a flowing through,” vividly describing the condition where there is an abnormal, frequent discharge of watery stool.
“Rhea” in cholera also means flow. So literally, cholera means “flow of bile.” In earlier times, an excess of yellow bile was thought to cause symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea, which is why diseases like cholera were associated with an overproduction of bile.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
The prefix Myco- comes from the Greek word “mýkēs,” meaning “fungus” or “mushroom.” The use of the term Myco- in the name Mycobacterium tuberculosis refers to the bacterium’s structural and physiological similarities to fungi.
“Tuberculosis” is from the Latin word “tuberculum,” meaning “a small swelling” or “nodule.” This name refers to the characteristic “tubercles” (small nodules or lumps) that form in the lungs of those infected with the disease.
Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Named after Albert Neisser, who discovered the bacterium, and gonorrhoeae refers to the discharge associated with gonorrhea. “Gonos” means “seed” or “generation,” and “rhoia” means “flow” or “discharge,” as discussed earlier.
One of the main symptoms of gonorrhea is a discharge from the genital area. This means a person may notice an unusual fluid coming out of the penis, vagina, or sometimes the rectum. The discharge is often described as purulent, meaning it looks like pus. Pus is a thick, yellowish or greenish liquid produced as part of the body’s response to infection. It contains dead white blood cells, bacteria, and other debris.
Treponema pallidum
Treponema comes from the Greek words “trepo,” meaning “to turn” or “to twist,” and “nema,” meaning “thread.” Combined, it means “twisted thread.”
Treponema pallidum is a spiral-shaped bacterium, and it moves in a corkscrew or twisting manner. This twisting helps the bacterium move forward through liquids or soft tissues. “Tropism,” the tendency of an animal or plant to turn or move in response to a stimulus (for example, light), comes from the same origin as trepo.
The phylum Nematoda is named because of the thread-like shape of the animals in the phylum.
Pallidum comes from the Latin word “pallidus,” meaning “pale” or “light-colored.”