Meaning | Any of the bacteria in the soil that take part in the nitrogen cycle; they oxidize ammonium compounds into nitrites or oxidize nitrites into nitrates. |
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Narrower | nitrate bacterium, nitric bacterium | Any of the nitrobacteria that oxidize nitrites into nitrates |
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nitrite bacterium, nitrous bacterium | Any of the nitrobacteria that oxidize ammonia into nitrites |
Broader | bacteria, bacterium | (microbiology) single-celled or noncellular spherical or spiral or rod-shaped organisms lacking chlorophyll that reproduce by fission |
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