Coccus Totally Explained

Everything about Cocci totally explained

Cocci (singular - coccus, from the Latin coccinus (scarlet) and derived from the Greek kokkos (berry) ) are any microorganism (usually bacteria) whose overall shape is spherical or nearly spherical. Describing a bacterium as a coccus, or sphere, distinguishes it from bacillus, or rod. This is the first of many taxonomic traits for identifying and classifying a bacterium according to binomial nomenclature.
Aggregations of coccoid bacteria often occur and these forms have specific names as well; listed here are the basic forms as well as representative bacterial genera:

pairs, or diplococci (Neisseria)
groups of four or eight known as tetrads or sarcina (Micrococci)
bead-like chains, or streptococci (Streptococcus)
grapelike clusters, or staphylococci (Staphylococcus)

Important human pathogens caused by coccoid bacteria include staphylococci infections, some types of food poisoning, some urinary tract infections, toxic shock syndrome, gonorrhea, as well as some forms of meningitis, throat infections, pneumonias, and sinusitis. Cocci are spherical bacteria. They can exist as single or clumped cells and are not motile. Diplococci are paired cells (diplo- meaning double). Other arrangements include: triad (groups of three), tetrad (groups of four), sarcina (cubes of eight), streptococcus(chains), and staphylococcus (irregular clusters).

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