What is Bacillus (shape)?
[[File:Bacillus species.jpg|thumb |right|250px|A typical bacillus, [[Gram staining|Gram stained]]: click for enlarged view]] A '''bacillus''' (plural '''bacilli''') is a rod-shaped cylindrical [[bacteria|bacterium]].<ref>S. Srivastava; Prem S. Srivastava, ''Understanding Bacteria'' (Dordrecht; Boston; London: Kluwer Academic Publishing, 2003), p. 61</ref> Bacilli are found in many different [[taxonomic]] groups of bacteria. *When the name ''Bacillus'' is [[Capitalization|capitalized]] and [[Italics|italicized]], it refers to a specific [[genus]] of bacteria.<ref name=Engelkirk53>Paul G. Engelkirk; ''et al'' 2011. ''Burton's microbiology for the health sciences''. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, p. 53.</ref> *If it is not capitalized or italicized the name refers to any rod-shaped [[bacterium]].<ref name=Engelkirk53/> There is no connection between the shape of a bacterium and its colors in the [[gram staining]]. In other words, some of them are gram negative and some are gram positive. == References == {{reflist}} {{-}} [[Category:Bacteria]] {{biology-stub}}