page_title: Pseudomonas aeruginosa
section_title: Nomenclature
hierarchical_section_title: Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Nomenclature
caption_attribution_description: English: microscopic image of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853). Gram staining, magnification:1,000
context_page_description: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common encapsulated, Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that can cause disease in plants and animals, including humans. A species of considerable medical importance, P. aeruginosa is a multidrug resistant pathogen recognized for its ubiquity, its intrinsically advanced antibiotic resistance mechanisms, and its association with serious illnesses – hospital-acquired infections such as ventilator-associated pneumonia and various sepsis syndromes.
  The organism is considered opportunistic insofar as serious infection often occurs during existing diseases or conditions – most notably cystic fibrosis and traumatic burns. It generally affects the immunocompromised but can also infect the immunocompetent as in hot tub folliculitis. Treatment of P. aeruginosa infections can be difficult due to its natural resistance to antibiotics. When more advanced antibiotic drug regimens are needed adverse effects may result.
  It is citrate, catalase, and oxidase positive. It is found in soil, water, skin flora, and most man-made environments throughout the world.
context_section_description: The word Pseudomonas means "false unit", from the Greek pseudēs (Greek: ψευδής, false) and (Latin: monas, from Greek: μονάς, a single unit). The stem word mon was used early in the history of microbiology to refer to germs, e.g., kingdom Monera.
  The species name aeruginosa is a Latin word meaning verdigris ("copper rust"), referring to the blue-green color of laboratory cultures of the species. This blue-green pigment is a combination of two metabolites of P. aeruginosa, pyocyanin (blue) and pyoverdine (green), which impart the blue-green characteristic color of cultures. Another assertion is that the word may be derived from the Greek prefix ae- meaning "old or aged", and the suffix ruginosa means wrinkled or bumpy.
  The names pyocyanin and pyoverdine are from the Greek, with pyo-, meaning "pus", cyanin, meaning "blue", and verdine, meaning "green". Pyoverdine in the absence of pyocyanin is a fluorescent-yellow color.
caption: Gram-stained P. aeruginosa bacteria (pink-red rods)
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