Category: S

A genus of gram-positive, coccoid bacteria whose organisms occur in pairs or chains. No endospores are produced. Many species exist as commensals or parasites on man or animals with some being highly pathogenic. A few species are saprophytes and occur in the natural environment. A type of spherical bacteria. A bacterium that is the cause…

A genus of spherical Gram-positive bacteria occurring in chains or pairs. They are widely distributed in nature, being important pathogens but often found as normal commensals in the mouth, skin, and intestine of humans and other animals. Pus-forming bacteria arranged in curved lines resembling a string of beads. They cause infections such as strep throat…

DNA normally exists in the bacterial nucleus in a helix, in which two strands are coiled together. A thread.  

An organ of digestion situated in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen between the termination of the esophagus and the beginning of the duodenum. The expansion of the alimentary canal between the esophagus and the duodenum. The part of the body shaped like a bag, into which food passes after being swallowed and where…

A group name for lipids that contain a hydrogenated cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene ring system. Some of the substances included in this group are progesterone, adrenocortical hormones, the gonadal hormones, cardiac aglycones, bile acids, sterols (such as cholesterol), toad poisons, saponins, and some of the carcinogenic hydrocarbons. Chemically, compounds that contain the cyclopenteno-phenanthrene ring system. All the biologically…

A genus of gram-positive, facultatively anaerobic, coccoid bacteria. Its organisms occur singly, in pairs, and in tetrads and characteristically divide in more than one plane to form irregular clusters. Natural populations of Staphylococcus are membranes of warm-blooded animals. Some species are opportunistic pathogens of humans and animals. Any of various spherical gram-positive bacteria including some…

The main trunk or bundle of nerves running down the spine through holes in the spinal bone (the vertebrae) from the brain to the level of the lower back. Part of the central nervous system, running from the medulla oblongata to the filum terminale, in the vertebral canal of the spine. Major part of the…

An agent that is destructive to spermatozoa. A chemical capable of killing sperm. A substance which kills sperm. A form of birth control using various substances contraceptive foams, creams, jellies, gels, and suppositories containing ingredients designed to kill sperm, such as nonoxynol-9 or octoxynol. When used alone, spermicides have a fairly low effectiveness rate as…

Mature male germ cells that develop in the seminiferous tubules of the testes. Each consists of a head, a body, and a tail that provides propulsion. The head consists mainly of chromatin. Reproductive cell of the male. Also known as sperm, the male sex cells that fertilize female eggs. Sperm is found in semen, the…

The fecundating fluid of the male. The male reproductive cell that fertilizes the ovum. The male sex cell, which unites with the female egg (ovum), normally in the fallopian tubes, in the process of fertilization, to form a fertilized egg, or zygote. Sperm are manufactured in the testes and matured in the epididymis (a “holding…