Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🧑 Skin bacteria 🧀 Cheese bacteria
Propionibacterium

Propionibacterium

1 9.8
A type of bacteria that lives on the skin and can cause acne
  • proper noun
  • /ˌproʊpiˌoʊnɪˈbæktəriəm/
  • Specialized
: Propionibacterium
  • The main culprit for the acne is the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes, which enters the sebaceous glands.

Examples

  • The main culprit for the acne is the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes, which enters the sebaceous glands.

  • A group of scientists interested in learning more about how these ecosystems work zeroed in on two members of the human microbiome: Propionibacterium acnes, a bacterium that can cause acne; and the viruses that infect those bacteria.

  • The dermatology study focused on the role of Propionibacterium acnes in causing skin inflammation.

Surface Forms

Propionibacterium main

Morphology

Propionibacterium = bacterium (opaque) = propioni + bacterium

Learners can recognize 'bacterium' and infer it names a bacterium, but the combining form 'propioni-' is technical and unlikely to be known, so the relation is only partly informative.

Etymology

Propionibacterium comes from propioni-, because these bacteria make 'propionic acid', and bacterium, meaning 'a small type of bacteria'. So the name is used for bacteria found on human skin, some of which can help cause acne.