A genus of colorless, nonpigmented bacteria, now reclassified into other genera but historically an important category in bacterial taxonomy.
From Greek 'achromatos' (colorless) + 'bakterion' (small rod or staff). Bacteria were classified partly by their pigmentation, and 'achromobacter' named those that produced no visible color.
Scientists would grow bacteria and watch what color colonies turned—those that stayed white were called achromobacter, but modern genetics showed these 'colorless' bacteria were actually very different species, teaching us that you can't always classify by appearance!
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