Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Mycobacterium simiae-avium group

    An emerging group of nontuberculous bacilli found widely in nature. They are slow-growing, acid fast, and occasionally cause opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients. They are generally resistant to most antituberculous drugs.  

  • Nontuberculous mycobacterium

    Any mycobacterium that does not cause tuberculosis. There are four main classes. Three of these groups grow more slowly than M. tuberculosis and one group grows more rapidly. These organisms may cause various skin, lung, or other conditions or they may be harmless.  

  • Mycobacterium avium complex

    An atypical mycobacterium that causes systemic bacterial infection in patients with advanced immunosuppression (especially those with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [AIDS]). It occasionally causes lung infections in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.  

  • Myasthenic reaction

    A gradual decrease and eventual cessation of muscle contractions when a muscle is stimulated repeatedly. A response where a muscle’s normal contraction, when electrified directly, weakens and becomes briefer with each subsequent stimulation, ultimately stopping as the muscle tires out.  

  • Mutualist

    Organism associated with another organism to the mutual benefit of each.  

  • Mutilation

    The removal, destruction, or injury of a conspicuous or essential body part or organ; maiming.  

  • Mutilate

    To deprive of a limb or a part; to maim or disfigure.  

  • Mutein

    A protein produced by a genetically engineered mutation.  

  • Regulatory mutation

    A change in DNA or RNA that alters the expression of other genes by a cell.  

  • Non-conservative mutation

    A change in DNA that results in the replacement of an amino acid with one that is not biochemically similar, such as serine replaced by proline.