Yersinia

Yersinia

 [yer-sin´e-ah]

a genus of nonmotile, ovoid or rod-shaped, nonencapsulated, gram-negative bacteria (family Enterobacteriaceae). Y. pes´tis causes plague in humans and rodents; it is transmitted from rat to rat and from rat to human by the rat flea, and between humans by the human body louse. Y. enterocoli´tica causes acute gastroenteritis and mesenteric lymphadenitis, especially in young children, and arthritis, septicemia, and erythema nodosum in adults. Y. pseudotuberculo´sis causes disease in rodents and mesenteric lymphadenitis in humans.

Yersinia

(yer-sin'ē-ă),

A genus of motile and nonmotile, non-spore-forming bacteria (family Enterobacteriaceae) containing gram-negative, unencapsulated, ovoid to rod-shaped cells; Yersinia are nonmotile at 37°C, but some species are motile at temperatures below 30°C; motile cells are peritrichous; citrate is not used as a sole source of carbon; these organisms are parasitic on humans and other animals; the type species is Yersinia pestis.

[A. J. E. Yersin, Swiss bacteriologist, 1862-1943]

yersinia

(yər-sĭn′ē-ə)

n. pl. yersin·iae (-ē-ē′)

A gram-negative bacterium of the genus Yersinia that causes various diseases in animals and humans, including plague.

Yersinia

A genus of pathogenic gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, coccobacillary bacteria, which cause bubonic plague–Y pestis, intestinal infections–Y enterocolitica, mesenteric lymphadenitis–Y pseudotuberculosis, which mimics appendicitis

Yer·sin·i·a

(yĕr-sin'ē-ă)

A genus of motile and nonmotile, non-spore-forming bacteria containing gram-negative, unencapsulated, ovoid to rod-shaped cells. These organisms are parasitic on humans and other animals. The type species is Yersinia pestis.

[A. J. E. Yersin, Swiss bacteriologist, 1862-1943]

Yersinia

A genus of GRAM NEGATIVE rod-shaped organisms that includes the bacillus Y. pestis responsible for PLAGUE. Formerly classified as Pasteurella , Yersinia have been reclassified as Enterobacteriaceae and the genus renamed. Louis Pasteur, although nominal head of the Institute, was not entitled to the credit or the discovery of the plague bacillus. (Alexandre Émile Jean Yersin, 1862–1943, French bacteriologist, working in Hong Kong.)

Yer·sin·i·a

(yĕr-sin'ē-ă)

Genus of motile and nonmotile, non-spore-forming bacteria containing gram-negative, unencapsulated, ovoid to rod-shaped cells; parasitic on humans and other animals; type species is Y. pestis.

[A. J. E. Yersin, Swiss bacteriologist, 1862-1943]