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A coccus (plural cocci, from the Latin coccinus (scarlet) and derived from the Greek kokkos (berry)), is any microorganism (usually bacteria) [1] whose overall shape is spherical or nearly spherical. [2] [3] [4] Coccus refers to the shape of the bacteria and can contain multiple genera, such as staphylococci or streptococci. Cocci can grow in ...
Bacterial morphological plasticity refers to changes in the shape and size that bacterial cells undergo when they encounter stressful environments. Although bacteria have evolved complex molecular strategies to maintain their shape, many are able to alter their shape as a survival strategy in response to protist predators, antibiotics, the immune response, and other threats.
Magnetospirillum is a Gram-negative, microaerophilic genus of magnetotactic bacteria, first isolated from pond water by the microbiologist R. P. Blakemore in 1975. [2] [3] They have a spiral (helical) shape and are propelled by a polar flagellum at each end of their cells.
Staphylococcus is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillales. Under the microscope, they appear spherical , and form in grape-like clusters. Staphylococcus species are facultative anaerobic organisms (capable of growth both aerobically and anaerobically).
This corresponds to a wet mass of about 1 picogram (pg), assuming that the cell consists mostly of water. The dry mass of a single cell can be estimated as 23% of the wet mass, amounting to 0.2 pg. About half of the dry mass of a bacterial cell consists of carbon, and also about half of it can be attributed to proteins.
The genera Corynebacterium [9] and Coccobacillus [10] have been designated as a pleomorphic genera, diphtheroid Bacilli have been classified as pleomorphic nosocomial bacteria. [11] Additionally, in one study focused on agents involved in a non-infectious disease, pleomorphic bacteria were found to exist in the blood of healthy human subjects. [12]
How cells grow and elongate has been extensively reviewed in model organisms of both, rod-shaped [36] [37] and coccoid bacteria. [38] The molecular basis for morphological plasticity and pleomorphism in more complex bacteria, however, is slowly being elucidated as well.
Some bacteria, called vibrio, are shaped like slightly curved rods or comma-shaped; others can be spiral-shaped, called spirilla, or tightly coiled, called spirochaetes. A small number of other unusual shapes have been described, such as star-shaped bacteria. [44]