Calymmatobacterium

Pronunciation: kă-lim′mă-tō-bak-tēr′ē-ŭm

Definition: A genus of nonmotile bacteria (of uncertain taxonomic classification) containing gram-negative, pleomorphic rods with single or bipolar condensations of chromatin; cells occur singly and in clusters. Outside the human body, growth occurs only in the yolk sac or amniotic fluid of a developing chick embryo or in a medium containing embryonic yolk; the organisms are pathogenic only for humans. The type species is Calymmatobacterium granulomatis.

[G. kalymma, hood, veil, + baktērion, rod]

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