This article is about biological strains. For other uses, see strain.
Colonies of Yersinia enterocolitica on agar surface
In biology, strain is a low-level taxonomic rank used in three related ways.
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Microbiology/Virology
A strain is a genetic variant or subtype of a virus or bacterium. For example, a "flu strain" is a certain biological form of the influenza or "flu" virus. Compare clade.
Plants
The term has no official status in botany; the term cultivar is instead used.
Rodents
A mouse or a rat strain is a group of animals that is genetically uniform. Strains are used in laboratory experiments. Mouse strains can be inbred, mutated or genetically engineered, while rat strains are usually inbred.
