Spirochaeta

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Spirochaeta \Spi`ro*chae"ta\, Spirochaete \Spi`ro*chae"te\, n.
     [L. spira a coil + Gr. ??? hair.] (Biol.)
     A genus of Spirobacteria similar to Spirillum, but
     distinguished by its motility. One species, the {Spirochaete
     Obermeyeri}, is supposed to be the cause of relapsing fever.
     [1913 Webster]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Spirochaeta
       n : type genus of the family Spirochaetaceae; flexible
           undulating chiefly aquatic bacteria [syn: {genus
           Spirochaeta}]