Stenophage

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A bacteriophage that can infect only a small number of closely related bacterial strains or species
2. A virus that preys on bacteria and attacks just a narrow range of host cells
3. Any bacteriophage whose ability to infect is restricted to a limited set of bacterial hosts

Etymology: Ancient Greek offers the two halves of this term. "Stenos" meant narrow or confined, and "phagos" came from "phagein," to eat. Ancient Greeks never used the combined form, though. It is a modern scientific coinage built from those classical parts, the same way biologists assembled other eating-related terms. Biologists apply it to organisms that can eat only a small range of food. A koala, which feeds almost exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, is a classic example. The opposite kind, which eats many different foods, is called a "euryphage." The pair follows the pattern of "stenophagous" and its counterparts, and the terms describe feeding breadth rather than any moral narrowness.