Azomonas

{{Short description|Genus of bacteria}} {{More citations needed|type=bacteria|date=December 2009}} {{Automatic_taxobox | image = azomonas100x.jpg | image_caption = ''Azomonas'' under 100x oil immersion | taxon = Azomonas | authority = Winogradsky 1938 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = ''[[Azomonas agilis]]''<br /> ''[[Azomonas insignis]]''<br /> ''[[Azomonas macrocytogenes]]'' }}

'''''Azomonas''''' species are typically motile, oval to spherical, and secrete large quantities of [[Slime layer|capsular slime]]. They are distinguished from ''[[Azotobacter]]'' by their inability to form cysts, but like ''Azotobacter'', they can biologically fix nitrogen under aerobic conditions ([[diazotroph]]s).

[[Bacteria]] of the genus ''Azomonas'' are known to form intracellular inclusions of [[polyhydroxyalkanoates]] under certain environmental conditions (e.g. lack of elements such as phosphorus, nitrogen, or oxygen combined with an excessive supply of carbon sources).

==Etymology== The name ''Azomonas'' derives from: : [[Neo-Latin|New Latin]] noun ''azotum'' [from Fr. noun ''azote'' (from [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] prep. ά, ''a'', not; [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] noun ζωή, ''zōē'', life; [[Greek language|Greek]] noun άζωη, ''azōē'', not sustaining life)], nitrogen; New Latin ''azo''-, pertaining to nitrogen; [[Latin]] [[-monas|''monas'']] (μονάς), nominally meaning "a unit", but in effect meaning a bacterium; New Latin ''Azomonas'', nitrogen monad.<ref name=main>{{lpsn|a/azomonas.html|Azomonas}}</ref>

Members of the genus ''Azomonas'' can be referred to as azomonads (''viz.'' [[Bacterial taxonomy#Vernacular names|Trivialisation of names]]).

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Pseudomonadales]] [[Category:Bacteria genera]]