A genus of bacteria that form branching filaments like fungal hyphae; found in soil and sometimes cause infections in humans and animals.
From actino- (Greek aktis 'ray') + myces (Greek mykes 'fungus'). Named because the branching filaments resemble ray-like fungal structures.
Scientists first thought Actinomyces was a fungus because it grows in branching threads like mold, but it's actually bacteria—this mix-up shows how sneaky bacteria can be at mimicking other organisms!
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