Every microbe gets a two-part Latin name. Read it right and you already know something about the bug. Tap a microbe to see how its name is built — and what it's telling you.
The name, decoded
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Genus is capitalized; species is lowercase.
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The whole name is italicized (or underlined by hand).
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After first use, abbreviate the genus to its initial: S. aureus.
Binomial nomenclatureGenus species, italicized
Why bother?A chart, a culture report, and a hand-off all assume you can read these names. Getting Staphylococcus aureus vs Staphylococcus epidermidis right can change the plan of care.