shigella
/ʃɪˈɡɛlə
/noun (plural same or shigellae)
A bacterium that is an intestinal pathogen of humans and other primates, some kinds of which cause dysentery.
- Genus Shigella; Gram-negative rods.
- The researchers found that shigella, the bacteria causing dysentery uses a Type III secretion system to inject proteins into human cells.
- One reason is that some microbes - in particular, a bacterium called shigella - appear to form a sticky ‘biofilm,’ like dental plaque, that is difficult to remove.
Origin
Modern Latin, from the name of Kiyoshi Shiga (1870–1957), Japanese bacteriologist, + the diminutive suffix -ella.