aggressinn.
/əˈɡrɛsɪn/, U.S. /əˈɡrɛsɪn/ Microbiology.
Any of various products or components of microorganisms that increase virulence, esp. by causing inhibition or evasion of the host's defences.
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aggressin1905
1905 Amer. Med. 8 July 45/2 This latest scientific innovation is appropriately connoted by the pictorial appellation of aggressins.
1925 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 14 Feb. 292/1 In analysing the initial struggle of a microbe to gain a foothold in the tissues the so-called aggressins have to be considered—that is, toxic substances produced by certain bacterial which are highly injurious to the leucocytes.
1988 Q. N. Myrvik & R. S. Weiser Fund. Med. Bacteriol. & Mycol. (ed. 2) viii. 123 Substances responsible for evasion or depression of host defense activities have been called aggressins or virulence factors.
2006 Koneman's Color Atlas & Textbk. Diagnostic Microbiol. (ed. 6) v. 204/1 These substances, termed aggressins, include capsules and extracellular slime substances, surface proteins and carbohydrates, enzymes, toxins, and other small molecules.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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