purple bacteria
plural noun
a group of Gram-negative pink to purplish-brown bacteria, comprising the purple sulfur bacteria and purple nonsulfur bacteria, that occur in anaerobic aquatic environments and carry out a unique form of photosynthesis without oxygen, using the pigment bacteriochlorophyll.
Origin of purple bacteria
1First recorded in 1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use purple bacteria in a sentence
There are also other bacteria (sulphur-bacteria, purple-bacteria, etc.) that show various peculiarities of metabolism.
The Wonders of Life | Ernst HaeckelThe purple bacteria have thus two sources of energy, one by the oxidation of sulphur and another by the absorption of "dark rays."
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