Editing Bacilli (section)

==Ambiguity==
Several related concepts make use of similar words, and the ambiguity can create considerable confusion. The term "''[[Bacillus]]''" (capitalized and italicized) is also the name of a [[genus]] (''Bacillus anthracis'') that, among many other genera, falls within the class Bacilli.

The word "[[Bacillus (shape)|bacillus]]" (or its plural "bacilli", with a small b) is also a generic term to describe the [[Bacterial cellular morphologies|morphology]] of any rod-shaped bacterium. This general term does not mean that the subject is a member of class Bacilli or genus ''Bacillus''. Thus, it does not necessarily imply a similar group of characteristics. Not all members of class Bacilli are rod-shaped (''[[Staphylococcus]]'' is spherical), and many other rod-shaped bacteria that do not fall within that class exist (e.g., ''[[Clostridium]] '' is rod-shaped but very different taxonomically). Moreover, the general term "bacillus" does not necessarily indicate the [[Gram-positive]] staining common to class Bacilli. For example, ''[[Escherichia coli|E. coli]]'' is a rod-shaped bacterium that can be described as "a bacillus", but it stains [[Gram-negative]] and does not belong to the genus ''Bacillus'' or the class Bacilli. Some [[microbiologist]]s have forsaken the general "bacillus" term because of the confusion it can create.