also: きんしゅ
bacterial strain; microbial strain
Technical term in biology and microbiology for a specific genetic variant or subtype of a microorganism, especially bacteria.
This bacterial strain is resistant to antibiotics.
The research team isolated a new strain.
Standard kanji form; the reading きんかぶ is the most common.
Alternate reading きんしゅ is less common and may be encountered in some technical contexts.
Compound of 菌 (きん, 'germ, microbe') and 株 (かぶ, 'stock, strain'). The reading きんしゅ uses the on'yomi of 株.