Sarcina

A genus of nonmotile, strictly anaerobic bacteria (family Peptococcaceae) containing Gram-positive cocci, 1.8–3.0 μm in diameter, which divide in three perpendicular planes, producing regular packets of eight or more cells. The metabolism of these chemoorganotrophic organisms is fermentative. Saprophytic and facultatively parasitic species occur. The type species is S. ventriculi. [L. s., a pack, bundle, fr. sarcio, to mend, patch]

- S. ventriculi a bacterial species found in soil, mud, the contents of a diseased human stomach, rabbit and guinea pig stomach contents, and on the surfaces of cereal seeds; it is the type species of the genus S..

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sar·ci·na 'sär-si-nə n

1) cap a genus of bacteria (family Peptococcaceae) that are gram-positive cocci, are mostly harmless saprophytes but include a few serious brewery pests, and have cells which under favorable conditions divide in three directions into cubical masses

2) pl -nas or -nae -nē any bacterium of the genus Sarcina

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Sar·ci·na (sahrґsĭ-nə) [L. “package,” “bundle”] a genus of spherical, gram-positive bacteria of the family Clostridiaceae, occurring in cubical packets of eight or more cells, formed by division in three perpendicular planes; organisms are nonmotile, strictly anaerobic, and chemo-organotrophic, with a fermentative metabolism. They are common soil inhabitants and are found on cereal grains and in the digestive tracts of animals and occasionally in clinical specimens. The type species is S. ventriґculi.