STAPHYLOCOCCUS AND STREPTOCOCCUS-LESSON 40
We start this lesson with a tip, i.e. words ending in -us commonly form their plural by dropping the -us and adding -i. Thus, nucleus becomes nuclei and coccus becomes cocci (KOK-si). STREPTOCOCCUS: A Streptococcus is a beery-shaped bacterium that grows in twisted chains. One group of streptococci are responsible for such conditions as "strep" throat, tonsilitis, rheumatic fever, and certain kidney ailments, whereas another group cause infections in teeth, in the sinuses (cavities) of nose and face, and sometimes in the valves of the heart. The genus streptococcus is comprised of gram-positive, microaerophilic cocci (round), which are not motile and occur in chains or pairs. The genus is defined by a combination of antigenic, hemolytic, and physiological characteristics into groups a, b, c, d, f, and g. groups a and d can be transmitted to humans via food. STAPHYLOCOCCUS: A Staphylococcus is a bacterium that grows in small clusters, like grapes. S