Definition of Comma bacillus
1. Noun. Comma-shaped bacteria that cause Asiatic cholera.
Medical Definition of Comma bacillus
1.
Bacterium that causes cholera, the life threatening aspects of which are caused by the exotoxin (see cholera toxin).
Short, slightly curved rods, highly motile (single polar flagellum), gram-negative. Adhere to intestinal epithelium (adhesion mechanism unknown) and produce enzymes (neuraminidase, proteases) that facilitate access of the bacterium to the epithelial surface.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Comma Bacillus
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