avirulence

9.9

Not causing disease in a person, animal, or plant

noun
/ˌeɪvɪˈrjuːləns/

Specialized

: avirulencia

Some bacteria exhibit avirulence in certain environments.

Examples

The genetic modification led to avirulence in the fungal pathogen, making it harmless to plants.
The avirulence of the strain was surprising to the researchers.
Scientists study avirulence genes to understand how some bacteria fail to infect their hosts.
The strain's avirulence was confirmed when it did not cause symptoms in the test animals.
Certain strains of bacteria exhibit avirulence, allowing them to coexist with their hosts without causing disease.
The researcher studied the avirulence of the virus to understand why it did not harm its natural hosts.
Scientists are interested in the mechanisms of avirulence to develop new strategies for disease prevention.

Antonyms

virulence

Specialized

4 8.8

How harmful a disease or germ is to people

pathogenicity

Specialized

1 8.7

The ability of a germ to cause disease in people or animals

How Virulent

virulence

Specialized

4 8.8

attenuation

Specialized

3 7.9

avirulence

Specialized

9.9

Surface Forms

avirulence singular

avirulences plural

Morphology

avirulence = virulence (semi-transparent) = a + virulence

For learners who know 'virulence', the word can be understood as 'lack of virulence', but the scientific negative prefix 'a-' is not highly familiar outside technical vocabulary.

Etymology

Avirulence is made from a- meaning 'not' and virulence meaning 'ability to cause harm', the same root you see in virus and virulent. So avirulence describes a germ or strain that is 'not able to cause disease' and is harmless.