Pseudomonas Aeruginosa - Nomenclature

Nomenclature

• The word Pseudomonas means "false unit", from the Greek pseudo (Greek: ψευδο, false) and monas (Latin: monas, from Greek: μονος, 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"), as seen with the oxidized copper patina on the Statue of Liberty. This also describes the blue-green bacterial pigment seen in 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. Pyocyanin biosynthesis is regulated by quorum sensing, as in the biofilms associated with colonization of the lungs in cystic fibrosis patients. 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 derivations of pyocyanin and pyoverdine are of the Greek, with pyo-, meaning "pus", cyanin, meaning "blue", and verdine, meaning "green". Pyoverdine in the absence of pyocyanin is a fluorescent-yellow color.