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Glite Dictionary
Mycobacterium leprae

Mycobacterium leprae

8.3
A type of bacteria that causes leprosy, a long illness of the skin and nerves
  • noun
  • /ˌmaɪkoʊbækˈtɪəriəm ˈlɛpreɪ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : Mycobacterium leprae
  • Research indicates that Mycobacterium leprae is responsible for the chronic infectious disease known as leprosy.
  • caused by Mycobacterium leprae

Examples

  • According to the World Health Organization, one of the first recorded diseases to affect human health, more than two-and-a-half thousand years ago, was that of leprosy (a chronic disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae).

    Academic text (2011)

  • Leprosy is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, which affects the skin and nerves.

  • Doctors diagnose leprosy by identifying the presence of Mycobacterium leprae in skin lesions.

Synonyms

leprosy bacillus
vsMycobacterium leprae
  • Specialized
7.5

A germ that causes the disease leprosy

is the formal scientific name used in laboratory and medical reports

Surface Forms

Mycobacterium leprae singular
Mycobacterium leprae plural

Morphology

mycobacterium + leprae

The phrase is a taxonomic binomial: 'Mycobacterium' signals a bacterial genus and the epithet 'leprae' refers to leprosy, so together they denote the Mycobacterium species that causes leprosy. This is inferable if a learner recognises the biological naming pattern and the root 'lepra/leprae', but that requires domain-specific knowledge beyond typical B1 vocabulary, so the transparency is partial.

Etymology

Mycobacterium leprae gets its name from old words: myco- (because the tiny bacteria, seen under a microscope, looked a little like a fungus) and leprae (from a word meaning 'scaly', a common sign of the disease). So the name points to a small germ that causes 'leprosy', which helps you remember what it is.