halobacterium

noun

hal·​o·​bacterium

-lə-

1

capitalized : a genus of halophilic rod or disk-shaped gram-negative aerobic primitive bacteria (family Halobacteriaceae) that live in strongly saline pools in red to orange colonies and that at low oxygen levels synthesize the purple-pigmented protein bacteriorhodopsin

2

: a bacterium of the genus Halobacterium

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from hal- + bacterium

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