1. the swelling of the capsule surrounding a microorganism after reaction with an antibody; the basis of certain tests for identifying microorganisms; - Example: "pneumococcus quellung" [syn: quellung, quellung reaction]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
quellung
n 1: the swelling of the capsule surrounding a microorganism
after reaction with an antibody; the basis of certain tests
for identifying microorganisms; "pneumococcus quellung"
[syn: quellung, quellung reaction]