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genus Rickettsia

genus Rickettsia

9.4
A group of bacteria that cause diseases like typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever in people
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɛnəs rɪˈkɛtsiə/
  • Specialized
translation icon : género Rickettsia
  • Scientists isolated a new strain within the genus Rickettsia from the infected tissue.

Examples

  • The genus Rickettsia includes several species that cause significant diseases in humans.

  • Understanding the genus Rickettsia is crucial for controlling tick-borne illnesses.

  • The genus Rickettsia includes several pathogenic species.

  • Scientists study the genus Rickettsia for its role in human diseases.

  • The genus Rickettsia includes bacteria that can lead to serious illnesses like typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

  • Scientists study the genus Rickettsia to understand how it is transmitted by ticks and fleas.

  • In medical research, the genus Rickettsia is important for developing vaccines against vector-borne diseases.

Synonyms

rickettsia
vsgenus Rickettsia
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Very small bacteria that live in ticks or mites and cause fevers in people

is the scientific taxonomic name for bacteria that cause those human diseases

Surface Forms

Morphology

genus + rickettsia

This expression is compositionally built from 'genus' (a biological rank) + the taxon name 'Rickettsia'; a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand it denotes the biological genus containing Rickettsia species. The pattern 'genus + [name]' is a standard, cross-linguistic naming convention in biology, so the meaning is directly derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Genus Rickettsia comes from genus, a word for 'a group of related species', and Rickettsia, the name given to honor the scientist Howard Ricketts who studied these bacteria. So it means 'a group of related bacteria named after Ricketts', and today it is used for bacteria that can cause diseases like typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.