bacillus

n. rod-shaped bacteria

This page is about the bacterial genus. For rod-shaped bacteria in general, see Bacteria#Morphology.Bacillus is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-positive bacteria and a member of the division Firmicutes. Bacillus species are either obligate or facultative aerobes, and test positive for the enzyme catalase. Ubiquitous in nature, Bacillus includes both free-living and pathogenic species. Under stressful environmental conditions, the cells produce oval endospores that can stay dormant for extended periods. These characteristics originally defined the genus, but not all such species are closely related, and many have been moved to other genera.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Bacillus /Ba·cil·lus/ a genus of bacteria, including gram-positive, spore-forming bacteria; three species are potentially pathogenic. [more]Bacillus - Community and Resources

Noun
1. aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil
(synonym) Bacilli, B
(hypernym) eubacteria, eubacterium, true bacteria
(hyponym) Bacillus anthracis, anthrax
(member-holonym) genus Bacillus

n. bacillus, rod-shaped bacteria