protoderm

(botany) the primary meristem from which the epidermis develops


nagana

In 1894 Major David Bruce was sent to Zululand to investigate the cattle disease nagana.

1997, Roy Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind, Folio Society, published 2016, page 460:

(veterinary medicine) A disease of vertebrates in southern Africa, characterised by swelling and lethargy and caused by trypanosomes transmitted by tsetse flies.


hPSC

"The primary advantages of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC, which includes hES and iPS cells)-derived cardiomyocytes for use in drug discovery are...."

2009, Blake Anson, Junyi Ma, Jia-Qiang He, “Identifying Cardiotoxic Compounds (archived article)”, in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News:

(biology) Initialism of human pluripotent stem cell.


galactogen

(biochemistry) Any polysaccharide composed of galactose residues.


rainbow runner

Rainbow runners are fished for food and sport in warm waters.

(zoology) The marine fish species Elagatis bipinnulata, which is brilliantly striped yellow and blue


pepsinogen

(biochemistry) A zymogen that is converted into pepsin by the hydrochloric acid in the stomach.


peptogenic

en-adj

peptogenic (comparative more peptogenic, superlative most peptogenic)

more peptogenic (comparative)
most peptogenic (superlative)

(biochemistry) Producing peptones or pepsin


circumboreal

(biogeography) Relating to the northern ecoregion of abundant forest growth particularly spanning Eurasia and North America


winter coat

winter coats (plural)
winter-coat (alternative)

Regal ermine is made of the weasely stoat's winter coat

(zoology) An animal's seasonal appearance in winter, notably thicker and/or otherwise camouflaged plumage or fur after (often autumnal) moulting


apoferritin

en-noun

apoferritin (countable and uncountable, plural apoferritins)

(biochemistry) Part of the ferritin that is not combined with iron


neddylation

(biochemistry) The process by which the protein NEDD8 is conjugated to its target proteins, analogous to ubiquitination


phosphoglucoisomerase

phosphoglucoisomerase (countable and uncountable, plural phosphoglucoisomerases)

(biochemistry) An enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate into fructose 6-phosphate in the second step of glycolysis.


racemase

(biochemistry) Any enzyme that catalyzes the stereochemical inversion of the configuration about an asymmetric carbon atom in a substrate having only one center of asymmetry.


caseate

From Latin cāseus (“cheese”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

af

But pearls and Corrall, and whatsoever else hath a saxatile hardnesse of shell-fish, must give place truly to gemmes for hardnesse; and yet they are not therefore digested in the Athanor of our Oeconomy, so well as in the stomack of some birds. But the stones of Bezoar and of Crabs &c. not so hard as pearls, are not of a saxatile nature: but are rather made of a lacteous semi-caseate & semi-petrified juice, and have a neutrall nature of a tophe, between a Cartilage and a stone.

1651, Noah Biggs, Matæotechnia medicinæ praxeōs, The vanity of the craft of physick, or, A new dispensatory wherein is dissected the errors, ignorance, impostures and supinities of the schools in their main pillars of purges, blood-letting, fontanels or issues, and diet, &c., and the particular medicines of the shops : with an humble motion for the reformation of the universities and the whole landscap [sic] of physick, and discovering the terra incognita of chymistrie : to the Parliament of England, London: Printed for Edward Blackmore, page 95:


stenotopic

en-adj

stenotopic (comparative more stenotopic, superlative most stenotopic)

more stenotopic (comparative)
most stenotopic (superlative)

(ecology) Able to tolerate or adapt to only a small range of environmental conditions


sclerotium

From New Latin sclerotium, from Ancient Greek σκληρός (sklērós, “hard”).

(mycology) A compact mass of hardened mycelium stored with reserve food material that, in some higher fungi such as ergot, becomes detached and remains dormant until a favourable opportunity for growth occurs.


halorhodopsin

en-noun

halorhodopsin (countable and uncountable, plural halorhodopsins)

(biochemistry) A light-driven ion pump, specific to chloride ions, found in phylogenetically ancient archaea known as halobacteria.


cursorial

en-adj

cursorial (comparative more cursorial, superlative most cursorial)

more cursorial (comparative)
most cursorial (superlative)

The limbs of the horse are cursorial.

The ostrich is a cursorial bird.

(zoology) Having legs fitted for running.


astrapothere

(zoology) Any of several extinct, hoofed, herbivorous mammals, of the order Astrapotheria, from Cenozoic South America.


toxophil

toxophil (comparative more toxophil, superlative most toxophil)

more toxophil (comparative)
most toxophil (superlative)
toxophile (alternative)

(biology) Having an affinity with an organic poison (toxin).


coxal

Borrowed from Medieval Latin or Late Latin coxalis, from Latin coxa.


myrmecophage

(biology) Anteaters, and other animals chiefly feeding on ants.


areole

Borrowed from French aréole, from Latin areola: a small area. Doublet of areola.

(botany) Any of the smallest enclosures created by the veins of a leaf.

(botany) A bump on a cactus out of which grow clusters of spines.

areolė

(mycology) A tessellation in the thallus of certain lichens.


phytoherm

(geology, biology) A calcareous 'freshwater reef', generally built up from autochthonous petrification of bryophytes, fungi, algae and cyanobacteria.


viverrid

(zoology) Any member of the family Viverridae


imposex

(biology) The development in certain marine gastropod mollusks of sex organs in contrast to their actual gender, the result of toxic pollutants.


lymphadenitis

en-noun

lymphadenitis (countable and uncountable, plural lymphadenitides or lymphadenitises or lymphadenites)

lymphadenitides (plural)
lymphadenitises (plural)
lymphadenites (plural)

From international scientific vocabulary, reflecting New Latin combining forms, from lymph- + adenitis = lymph- + aden- + -itis.

(all often synonymous in imprecise use)

(biology, medicine) The inflammation or swelling of the lymph nodes, often a nonspecific sign of infection but also often benign and of obscure origin.

classical compound
international scientific vocabulary


zygotene

From French zygotène, corresponding to zygo- (“union, zygosis”, from Ancient Greek ζυγόν (zugón, “junction, yoke”)) + -tene (“filament”, from ταινία (tainía, “band, fillet”)), equivalent to zygote + -tene.
Coined by Victor Grégoire in 1907 and in English by Edmund B. Wilson in 1912.

af

from Ancient Greek <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">ζυγόν</i> (zugón, “junction, yoke”)

from <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">ταινία</i> (tainía, “band, fillet”)

(biology) The intimate pairing of homologous chromosomes during the synaptic stage of meiosis


zygosphere

(botany) A plant's gamete which can form a zygospore by uniting with a similar one.


retrocyclin

en-noun

retrocyclin (countable and uncountable, plural retrocyclins)

(biochemistry, genetics) An artificial human theta-defensin shown to be effective against HIV and other viruses.


vachette

(veterinary surgery) A piece of strong steel wire with the ends curved and pointed, used on toe or quarter cracks to bind the edges together and prevent motion. It is clasped into two notches, one on each side of the crack, burned into the wall with a cautery iron.


soybean rust

(phytopathology) A fungal disease of soybeans and other legumes, caused by Phakopsora spp..


nothospecies

/ˈnɒθəʊˌspiːʃiz/

The fourth species, the nothospecies Fragaria × ananassa, was originally established for the hybrids F. chiloensis × F. virginiana, which had originated under cultivation and are known as the large-fruited garden strawberries. When the hybrid populations in the coastal regions of northwestern North America were identified as introgressants of the same two octoploid species, they were combined with the cultivated garden strawberries into the nothospecies F. ×ananassa.

1999, Günter Staudt, “Systematics and Geographic Distribution of the American Strawberry Species: Taxonomic Studies in the Genus Fragaria (Rosaceae: Potentilleae)”, in Botany, volume 81, University of California Press, page 32:

For our treatment we designate hybrid species (nothospecies) by prefix with a multiplication sign placed flush with the species epithet (×; Art H.1.1; H.3A.1 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, Greuter et al. 2000) only if they are of restricted distribution and are sympatric with their putative parents.

2004, David M. Spooner, Wild potatoes (Solanum section Petota; Solanaceae) of North and Central America, page 17:

The number that precedes each species is presented to help determine parentage of nothospecies (i.e., hybrids). Therefore, all nothospecies included in the manual are provided with a numeric formula (e.g., 1 × 3) in addition to the scientific name (when present).

2011, Arthur Haines, New England Wild Flower Society's Flora Novae Angliae: A Manual for the Identification of Native and Naturalized Higher Vascular Plants of New England, page xvi:

(botany) A hybrid which is formed by direct hybridization of two species, not other hybrids.


grex name

Grex names are mainly used for orchids and bromeliads, which hybridize easily and are eagerly cultivated

(botany) A common name for the collective ('herd') of hybrids stemming from a given set of two (or more) commonly paired parent species


afference

afference (countable and uncountable, plural afferences)

Adjective form of afferent, from French afférent (“which brings inward”), from Latin afferent-, from afferēns, present participle of afferre (“bring to”), from af- (variant of ad-) + ferre (“bear”). Doublet of afferentia.

Christina had lost this normal inflow, this afference, had lost her normal proprioceptive vocal tone and posture, and therefore had to use her ears, auditory feedback, instead.

1984, Oliver Sacks, “The Disembodied Lady”, chapter 3 in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Reset 2007), page 53

(biology) The brain’s reception of signals from the body.


seed vessel

(botany) The ripened and otherwise modified wall of a plant ovary


seed leaf

(botany) One of the first leaves a seed plant's embryo develops.


MMR

MMR (countable and uncountable, plural MMRs)

(biology, genetics) Initialism of DNA mismatch repair.


agmatine

(biochemistry) The amine (4-aminobutyl)guanidine which is a decarboxylation product of arginine and an intermediate in polyamine biosynthesis

agmatina

amine which is a decarboxylation product of arginine


atlastin

atlastin (countable and uncountable, plural atlastins)

(biochemistry) Any of a family of proteins whose function is to fuse cell membranes


fluorodeoxyglucose

positron emission tomography
positron emission tomography

(biochemistry) A fluorine analog of glucose that is used in positron emission tomography

fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography


heterochromatinization

(biochemistry) The conversion of euchromatin into heterochromatin during the inactivation of the X chromosomes in the embryogenesis of mammalian females


myocardin

(biochemistry) A transcription cofactor of the serum response factor.


neurogranin

(biochemistry) A protein, produced in the brain, that binds calmodulin.


retrotranspose

en-verb

retrotranspose (third-person singular simple present retrotransposes, present participle retrotransposing, simple past and past participle retrotransposed)

retrotransposes (present singular third-person)
retrotransposing (participle present)
retrotransposed (participle past)
retrotransposed (past)

(genetics) To cause or to undergo retrotransposition.


stemness

en-noun

stemness (usually uncountable, plural stemnesses)

(cytology) An essential characteristic of a stem cell that distinguishes it from ordinary cells.


ome

The four basic omes, their major interactions, and the evolution of other human omes.

2012, OMICS: Biomedical Perspectives and Applications, →ISBN, page 190:

The series is launched with a review from the Snyder group on reading human omes

2013, George M. Church, “Reading and writing omes”, in Molecular Systems Biology, →DOI:

Proposing a new ome has become a way of validating the importance, relevance, and financial promise of a research program.

2016, J. A. Stallins, D. M. Law, S. A. Strosberg, J. J. Rossi, “Geography and postgenomics: how space and place are the new DNA”, in GeoJournal, →DOI:

(biology) The totality of a certain type of biological entity in an organism etc., e.g. the genome or proteome.


binate

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Latin binus (“two each, in pairs”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix)

af

(botany) Double; growing in pairs or couples.


forearm bone

(zoology) The ulna or the fused ulna and radius, which may be the sole bone of the forelimb or the strongest bone of the forelimb.


concestor

Coined by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 2004 in his book The Ancestor's Tale.

coin

(biology, uncommon) The last common ancestor, especially of several different species.


sexual cannibalism

(zoology) A type of cannibalism in animals, whereby the female devours the male after, or during, copulation.


phragmocone

This ability to continuously add new buoyancy chambers to their phragmocones allowed ancient cephalopods to reach truly stupendous sizes.

2017, Danna Staaf, Squid Empire, ForeEdge, →ISBN, page 37:

(malacology) The chambered portion of the shell of certain cephalopods, divided by septa into camerae.


siphuncle

An extra-salty siphuncle naturally absorbs water from the phragmocone chambers, and the empty space left behind is filled with gases diffusing out from the blood.

(zoology) A strand of tissue passing longitudinally through the shell of a cephalopod, used primarily in emptying water from new chambers as the shell grows.


aetheogam

aetheogams (plural)
aëtheogam (alternative)

/eɪˈiːθɪəʊɡæm/

From Ancient Greek ἀήθης (aḗthēs, “unusual”) + γάμος (gámos, “marriage”).

(botany) A cryptogam; a plant of the obsolete taxonomic class Cryptogamia, having neither stamina nor pistils, and therefore no proper flowers, such as an alga, fern, fungus, lichen or moss.


aëtheogamous

ā.ē'thēŏʹgəməs

/eɪˌiːθiːˈɒɡəməs/

aëtheʹos (ἀήθης, unusual), in compounds = unusual ; aëtheogamʹic, aëtheogʹamous (γάμος, marriage), synonymous with cryptogamic.

1900, Benjamin Daydon Jackson, A Glossary of Botanic Terms: With Their Derivation and Accent, page 7 ^〃 (4ᵗʰ Ed.; Duckworth)


aetheogamous

ā.ē'thēŏʹgəməs

/eɪˌiːθiːˈɒɡəməs/


biomathematics

(biology, mathematics) The application of mathematics to the study of biological systems and processes


Homerian

(geology, paleontology) A subdivision of the Silurian period.


angiome

The brain’s angiome or distribution of vascular elements can also be considered a connectome of sorts.

2014, Silasi G, Murphy TH, “Stroke and the connectome: how connectivity guides therapeutic intervention.”, in Neuron, volume 83, number 6, →DOI, →PMID, pages 1354–68:

(biology) the complete mapping of the blood vessels in an organism, especially those of the brain.


ectopterygoid

(zoology) A certain ventral bone of reptiles or fish


duplicon

(genetics) A chromosome-specific low-copy repeat.


fusome

Cystoblasts/cystocytes also divide asymmetrically, and in doing so, the spectrosome evolves into a branched fusome in the 16-cell cyst (5,37), accumulating proteins like Bam, ankyrin, α- and β-spectrins, the adducinlike product of the hu-li tai shao gene (HtsF), dynein (Dhc64C), and Cyclin A (5,35,36).

2004, Daryl S. Henderson, Drosophila Cytogenetics Protocols, page 95:

This demonstrates a key role of the fusome as a channel of communication between the cells for the synchronisation and differentiation of the germline cyst.

2007, Alvaro Macieira-Coelho, Asymmetric Cell Division, page 105:

F-actin is not detected reliably on the fusome in Drosophila female ovaries, whereas it is a major component of the male fusome.

2007, František Baluška, Dieter Volkmann, Peter W. Barlow, Cell-Cell Channels, page 226:

(biology) A germ cell-specific organelle assembled from membrane skeletal proteins and membranous vesicles.


homeologous

en-adj

homeologous (comparative more homeologous, superlative most homeologous)

more homeologous (comparative)
most homeologous (superlative)

(genetics) Alternative spelling of homoeologous.


invadopodium

From Latin invadō (“invade”) + -podium (“leg-like structure”).

af

(biology) A protrusion in the membrane of some cells that is rich in actin and extends into the extracellular matrix


lowess

(genetics) Abbreviation of locally weighted robust scatterplot smoothing.


reticulon

endoplasmic reticulum
endoplasmic reticulum

(biochemistry) Any of a group of proteins found in the endoplasmic reticulum that have a variety of functions.


tapetum

(botany) The cells on the outside of an archesporium.


tubularization

(biology) The organization of tissue into the forms of tubes


acrocirrid

(zoology) Any of many polychaete worms of the family Acrocirridae


demersal

en-adj

demersal (comparative more demersal, superlative most demersal)

more demersal (comparative)
most demersal (superlative)

planktonic

antonym(s) of “living near the bottom of a body of water”

From Latin demersus, past participle of dēmergō (“to sink”); compare demersed.

démersal

Unlike the more demersal (bottom-dwelling) cod, pollock will pursue schools of small fishes at any depth, occasionally driving them to the surface of the water where frantic splashing can be seen as the prey attempt to escape.

1991, Michael R. Ross, Recreational Fisheries of Coastal New England, page 156:

The young tend to occupy a pelagic habitat, but shift to a more demersal lifestyle with maturity.

2003, David A. Ebert, Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras of California, page 64:

At a certain age, however, the Cape horse mackerel in the northern Benguela tend to adopt a more demersal lifestyle, thus entering into the bottom dead zone.

2004, Bjørn Erik Axelsen, Jens-Otto Krakstad, Graça Bauleth-D'Almeida, “7: Aggregation dynamics and behaviour of the Cape horse mackerel (Trahurus trachurus capensis) in the northern Benguela - implications for acoustic abundance estimation”, in Ussif Rashid Sumaila, editor, Namibia's Fisheries: Ecological, Economic, And Social Aspects, page 149:

(biology) That lives near the bottom of a body of water.


fimbrin

(biochemistry) A protein of the calponin family


calponin

(biochemistry) Any of a family of proteins that bind calcium.


footshock

(biology) A mild electric shock administered to the feet of laboratory animals during a variety of psychological and other experiments


formamidase

(biochemistry) An enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of formylkynurenine to kynurenine and formate during the metabolism of tryptophan


formyltransferase

(biochemistry) Any transferase that catalyses the transfer of a formyl group


holopelagic

(biology) That remain pelagic through the entire life cycle.


retrocopy

(genetics) A retrogene, copied from mRNA, that has lost all introns


retrogene

(genetics) A piece of DNA reverse transcribed from mRNA inserted into a random place in the genome.


retroduplication

reverse transcription
reverse transcription

(genetics) The reverse transcription of a gene from mRNA into a complementary DNA copy


retroposed

(genetics) inserted into a chromosome following reverse transcription


retroposition

en-noun

retroposition (countable and uncountable, plural retropositions)

(genetics) The insertion of a fragment of DNA into a chromosome following reverse transcription


retrotransposable

(genetics) Able to undergo retrotransposition


subline

(biology) A subset of a line (of cells in a strain)


transceptor

(biology) A transporter-substrate complex that transduces signals to the inside of a cell


tropomyosin

/ˌtɹəʊ.pəʊˈmʌɪ.əs.ɪn/

/ˌtɹəʊ.pəˈmʌɪ.əs.ɪn/

From Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “turn”, noun) + myosin.

af

(biochemistry) A protein involved in muscle contraction. It is related to myosin and occurs together with troponin in the thin filaments of muscle tissue.

tropomyosine

biochemistry: protein involved in muscle contraction


uniport

(biochemistry) transport of a molecule through a cell membrane without the coupled transport of another


cosegregation

en-noun

cosegregation (countable and uncountable, plural cosegregations)

(genetics) The transmission of two or more linked genes on a chromosome to the same daughter cell leading to the inheritance by the offspring of these genes together.


tripotent

(biology, of a stem cell) That can give rise to three different types of cell


dromaeognathous

/ˌdɹɒmiːˈɒɡnəθəs/

Coined by Thomas Henry Huxley: binomial translingual Dromæus (“Dromaius”) (from Ancient Greek δρομαῖος (dromaîos, “swift-running”)) + Ancient Greek γνάθος (gnáthos, “jaw”) + English -ous, adjectival suffix

der

The fourth principal type, the dromæognathous, is not found in any Indian birds.

1895, Eugene William Oates, William Thomas Blanford, Birds, volume 3, Taylor and Francis, page v:

From the fact that the dromæognathous skull is more reptilian than any other type, it would seem that the Ratitæ diverged early from the carinate stock.

1921, William Aitcheson Haswell, A Text-book of Zoology, 3rd edition, volume 2, Macmillan, page 431:

It is well known that the membrane bones of the ostrich palate have a dromæognathous arrangement which is closer to the lacertilian plan than to the characteristic bird type where palatines and pterygoids slide upon a central rostrum.

1937, Zoological Society of London, “Proceedings”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 107, part 2, page 225:

Ægithognathous.—One of the four types of palatal structure distinguished by Huxley. The Dromæognathous type, with large vomer,¹ found in Ratites (Ostrich-like birds) is sharply defined from the others (in which the vomer is more or less reduced), but the latter are by no means so clearly separated from one another, and are connected to a great extent by intermediate conditions.

1938: Harry Forbes Witherby, Francis Charles Robert Jourdain, Norman Frederic Ticehurst, and Bernard William Tucker, The Handbook of British Birds, volume 1, page xxvi (7th Ed.; H. F. & G. Witherby)

(ornithology) Possessing a palatal structure akin to the emu and the other (now extinct) species of the genus Dromaius.


dromæognathism

/ˌdɹɒmiːˈɒɡnəθɪzm/

Dromæognathism (Gr. δρομαῖος, dromaios, a runner : genus-name of the emeu). All the Ratite birds, and the tinamous of Carinate birds, are dromæognathous.

1890, Elliott Coues, Handbook of Field and General Ornithology: A Manual of the Structure and Classification of Birds, Macmillan, page 249:

(ornithology) The particular arrangement in palatal structure typified by the emu and the other (now extinct) species of the genus Dromaius.


adipogenic

(biology) That forms fat, or fatty tissue; lipogenic


omomyid

In Europe, beavers, hamsters, hedgehogs and rhinoceroses are migrating in from Asia, wiping out native European groups like omomyids, the nocturnal relatives of tarsiers and monkeys, and several families of hoofed mammal.

2022, Thomas Halliday, Otherworlds, Penguin, published 2023, page 64:

(zoology) Any member of the family †Omomyidae, a diverse group of extinct primates.


hydrophobin

(biochemistry) Any of a class of small, cysteine-rich proteins that are expressed only by filamentous fungi, known for their capability of forming a hydrophobic coating on the surface of an object


gyrase

en-noun

gyrase (countable and uncountable, plural gyrases)

(biochemistry) An enzyme that supercoils DNA.


ceratitid

(zoology) Any extinct ammonite of the order Ceratitida.


flavokinase

flavokinase (usually uncountable, plural flavokinases)


pericentrin

pericentriolar material
pericentriolar material

(biochemistry) A protein that binds to calmodulin and is expressed in the centrosome, an integral component of the pericentriolar material.


mormyrid

(ichthyology) Any member of the family Mormyridae of freshwater elephantfish.


anting

When we say a bird is anting, we mean that it is on the ground or on a twig with one or both wings half-spread and with its tail drawn under the body. In this unusual attitude it can be seen picking up ants with its bill and rubbing its head among the undersides of the wings and – or – into the base of the tail.

1955, Holger Poulsen, “Experiments on Anting by Birds”, in Adolf Portmann, Ernst Sutter, editors, Acta Congressus internationalis ornithologici [Experientia: Supplementum; 3], Basel: Birkhäuser, →OCLC, page 608:

When anting the Jay does not pick up ants in the bill although it makes the same movements of the head as species which do. The wings are (at high intensity) spread quite widely and thrust forward like a canopy in front of the anting bird. Usually both wings are thrust forward together. I have seen a great number of both wild and captive Jays anting […]

1986, Derek Goodwin, Crows of the World, 2nd edition, London: British Museum (Natural History), →ISBN, page 199:

Blue jays are not just smart, they're also quirky. They are frequently given as exemplars of a bird behavior known as "anting," in which the bird lies down on an anthill with wings and tail spread and entices ants to swarm over it. Anting birds often grasp an ant in their beak, crush it, and wipe it under their wings, and over and through their feathers, and then sometimes eat them. […] The purpose of anting is still debated. It has been hypothesized that the formic acid in ants, when applied to the feathers, helps to control feather lice and other parasites, but the experimental evidence about this is mixed. It has also been suggested that birds are simply wiping the acid off so that the ants will taste better when they subsequently eat them. Others have suggested that anting is pleasurable, like a kind of bird catnip.

2011, Julie Feinstein, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 199:

Anting. A behavior in which the fluids from ants, notably formic acid, are applied to the plumage and possibly the skin. There are two basic types of the behavior: active anting, in which the bird anoints its plumage with the bill, and passive anting, in which the bird allows ants to invade and anoint the plumage. […] Some individuals of these species, in unnatural situations such as in captivity, perform active anting with burning matches and cigarette smoke, moth balls, hair tonic, mustard, citrus fruits, numerous insects other than ants, and other substitutes. What causes anting and what purpose or purposes it serves, if any, need investigation.

2013, Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr., Ornithology in Laboratory and Field, 4th edition, Orlando, Fla.: Academic Press, →ISBN, page 251:

(ornithology) The practice of some birds of rubbing live ants or occasionally other items into the feathers, possibly as a means of controlling parasites.


biscistronic

(genetics) Of or pertaining to a bicistron


bicistron

(genetics) A second, coexpressed plasmid


myeloperoxidase

myeloperoxidase (countable and uncountable, plural myeloperoxidases)

It has been shown previously that purified myeloperoxidase and crystalline horseradish peroxidase detoxify diphtheria and tetanus toxin when mixtures of crude toxin and peroxidase are dialyzed against dilute hydrogen peroxide.

1950 October, Kjell Agner, “Studies on Peroxidative Detoxification of Purified Diptheria Toxin”, in Journal of Experimental Medicine, volume 92, number 4, page 337:

(biochemistry) A peroxidase enzyme most abundantly present in neutrophil granulocytes, responsible for the greenish colour of pus and mucus.


apeman

(cryptozoology) A reputed or legendary, large, bipedal, ape-like creature, as Bigfoot or the Yeti, or a primitive australopithecine still extant today.


phenolsulfonphthalein

phenolsulfonphthalein (countable and uncountable, plural phenolsulfonphthaleins)

phenolsulfonphthaleins (plural)
phenolsulphonphthalein (alternative)
phenolsulfonephthalein (alternative)

(biochemistry, organic chemistry) Phenol red, a pH indicator much used in cell biology.


pantetheine

pantetheine (usually uncountable, plural pantetheines)

(biochemistry) The cysteamine amide analogue of pantothenic acid, an intermediate in the production of coenzyme A by the body.


cysteamine

cysteamine (countable and uncountable, plural cysteamines)

(biochemistry) The simplest stable aminothiol, a degradation product of the amino acid cysteine, used to treat cystine excretion disorders and radiation sickness.


coadapted

(genetics) Describing a genetic adaptation that is the result of beneficial interactions between the organisms of a community.

(genetics) Describing the associated interactions between genes of different loci.


cosegregate

en-verb

cosegregate (third-person singular simple present cosegregates, present participle cosegregating, simple past and past participle cosegregated)

cosegregates (present singular third-person)
cosegregating (participle present)
cosegregated (participle past)
cosegregated (past)

(genetics, of genes and their markers) To segregate (be inherited) together


cotransfer

en-noun

cotransfer (countable and uncountable, plural cotransfers)

(genetics) The transfer of linked genes.


cotransfer

en-verb

cotransfer (third-person singular simple present cotransfers, present participle cotransferring, simple past and past participle cotransferred)

cotransfers (present singular third-person)
cotransferring (participle present)
cotransferred (participle past)
cotransferred (past)


aconitase

en-noun

aconitase (countable and uncountable, plural aconitases)

The enzyme system bringing about the reversible hydration of cisaconitic acid has been shown to be different from fumarase and termed "aconitase".

1939 June 1, William Arthur Johnson, “Aconitase”, in Biochemical Journal, volume 33, number 6, page 1046:

These are: aconitase, isocitric dehydrogenase, alpha-ketoglutaric dehydrogenase, succinic dehydrogenase, fumarase, malic dehydrogenase, DPHN-oxidase, and cytochrome oxidase.

1959, Virginia Commission of Fisheries, Report of the Commission of Fisheries of Virginia, page 54:

The best-characterized member of iron-sulfur isomerases is mitochondrial aconitase.

2000, Louis J. Ignarro, Nitric Oxide: Biology and Pathobiology, page 301:

tricarboxylic acid cycle
tricarboxylic acid cycle

(biochemistry) Aconitate hydratase, an enzyme that catalyses the stereospecific isomerization of citrate to isocitrate via cis-aconitate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle.


tetrahydrobiopterin

(biochemistry) A naturally-occurring nutrient and essential cofactor of the three aromatic amino acid hydroxylase enzymes, used in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitters serotonin, melatonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and nitric oxide.


solenopsin

solenopsin (usually uncountable, plural solenopsins)

From translingual Solenopsis (“genus that includes fire ants”) + -in.

der

(biochemistry, organic chemistry) An alkaloid, with chemical formula C₁₇H₃₅N, that is considered the primary toxin in fire ant venom and that inhibits angiogenesis via the phosphoinositol-3 kinase signaling pathway.


pinocytose

en-verb

pinocytose (third-person singular simple present pinocytoses, present participle pinocytosing, simple past and past participle pinocytosed)

pinocytoses (present singular third-person)
pinocytosing (participle present)
pinocytosed (participle past)
pinocytosed (past)

(transitive, biology) To perform pinocytosis on.


hydroxocobalamin

(biochemistry) A natural analog of vitamin B₁₂, a basic member of the cobalamin family of compounds, with an intense red color.


vitronectin

en-noun

vitronectin (countable and uncountable, plural vitronectins)

(biochemistry) A protein of the pexin family, an abundant glycoprotein that promotes cell adhesion and spreading, inhibits the membrane-damaging effect of the terminal cytolytic complement pathway, and binds to several serpin serine protease inhibitors.


demeclocycline

From de(s)me(thyl) + chlo(rtetra)cycline.

(biochemistry, pharmacology) A broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic produced by an actinomycete Kitasatospora aureofaciens and used especially in the form of its hydrochloride C₂₁H₂₁ClN₂O₈·HCl.


ecotropism

(biology) The tendency of a virus or bacterium to infect a small range of hosts


eumelanic

(biology) Having black or brown hair or fur.


phaeomelanic

en-adj

phaeomelanic (comparative more phaeomelanic, superlative most phaeomelanic)

more phaeomelanic (comparative)
most phaeomelanic (superlative)
pheomelanic (alternative)

(biology) Having red or yellow hair or fur


pheomelanic

pheomelanic (comparative more pheomelanic, superlative most pheomelanic)

more pheomelanic (comparative)
most pheomelanic (superlative)
phaeomelanic (alternative)


euxinia

(biology, geology) A euxinic environment, especially at critical times in the geologic past.


flavination

(biochemistry) The reaction of a protein and a flavin to form a flavoprotein


ansamycin

From Latin ansa (“handle”) (from their unique structure) + -mycin.

secondary metabolite
secondary metabolite

(biochemistry) Any of a family of secondary metabolites with antimicrobial and antiviral effects.


Rieske protein

After John S. Rieske, whose team discovered and isolated the protein in 1964.

(biochemistry) An iron-sulfur protein component of cytochrome complexes.


ubiquinol

en-noun

ubiquinol (countable and uncountable, plural ubiquinols)

(biochemistry) A certain benzoquinol, the reduced product of ubiquinone, also called coenzyme Q₁₀.


parapatric

(biogeography, of organisms) Whose ranges do not significantly overlap but are immediately adjacent to each other; they only occur together in the narrow contact zone, if at all.


transketolase

transketolase (countable and uncountable, plural transketolases)

pentose phosphate pathway
pentose phosphate pathway

(biochemistry) An enzyme of both the pentose phosphate pathway in animals and the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis, which catalyzes two important reactions.


Calvin cycle

Named after American biologist Melvin Ellis Calvin.

named-after

(biochemistry) A series of biochemical reactions that take place in the stroma of chloroplasts in photosynthetic organisms.


pedicle

From Latin pedīculus (“little foot”), diminutive of pēs.

A species of shell-fish, often found sticking by its pedicle to the bottom of ships, doing no other injury than deadening the way a little: "Barnacles, termed soland geese In th' islands of the Orcades."

1867, William Henry Smyth, The Sailor's Word-Book:

(zoology) A fleshy line used to attach and anchor brachiopods and some bivalve molluscs to a substrate.

His long, rakish horns are mounted on a pedicle that extends above his head, thus accentuating the droll length of his features.

(zoology) The attachment point for antlers in cervids.


Johnston's organ

en-noun

Johnston's organ (plural Johnston's organs)

Named after Christopher Johnston, a physician.

(zoology) A collection of sensory cells found in the pedicel of the antennae in the class Insecta.


cervicovaginal

(biology) Pertaining to the cervix and vagina.


aerodigestive

(biology) Pertaining to the airway and digestive tract.

aerodigestivo

pertaining to the airway and digestive tract


varanoid

(zoology) Any member of the superfamily Varanoidea of lizards, including the well-known Australian family Varanidae (the goannas).


loricate

(microbiology) Possessing a lorica (enclosing shell).

(zoology) Of or pertaining to the rotifers with thick, rigid cuticles and a box-like shape.


loricate

(zoology) Any animal covered with bony scales, such as the crocodile or pangolin.


xenology

From xeno- + -logy. Coined prior to 1974 and later popularized by Robert Freitas.

(genetics) Homology from horizontal gene transfer.


xenologue

xenologues (plural)
xenolog (alternative)

horizontal gene transfer
horizontal gene transfer

(genetics) A type of ortholog where the homologous sequences are found in different species because of horizontal gene transfer.


macroseeding

Repeated cycles of macroseeding were required to obtain crystals of sufficient size for data collection[…].

1998 March 6, Lance Stewart et al., “A Model for the Mechanism of Human Topoisomerase I”, in Science, volume 279, number 5356, →DOI, pages 1534–1541:

(biochemistry, macromolecular crystallography) The seeding of crystallization using an intact crystal that has already been grown


arboricole

From Latin arbor + colere (“to inhabit”).

arboricole bird

arboricole ant


carpo-

Combining form of Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “fruit”).


comate

en-adj

comate (comparative more comate, superlative most comate)

more comate (comparative)
most comate (superlative)

First attested in 1600; borrowed from Latin cōmātus, from cōma (“hair”) + -ātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

(archaic, botany) comose (having a coma, or bushy, hairy appearance).


-zygous

(biology) Having or originating from a specified state as a result of conditions in the zygote stage of development.

(genetics) Having a specified state of allele pairs in the nucleus.

-зиготен

genetics: having a specified state of allele pairs in the nucleus


innovant

These all agree with typical Thysananthus in habit, rooting flagella, lingulate leaves, repeatedly and closely innovant inflorescence, and trigonous perianths; and only differ in the entire underleaves and perianths.

1884, Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Volume 15, page 71:

Secondary less rigid, paler brown, ascending, simple or dichotomous, innovant in older plants.

1894, Mordecai Cubitt Cooke, Handbook of British Hepaticae, page 158:

Stems irregularly pinnate, alternate, 2 to 3 cells wide, innovant branch arising from base of perianth, sometimes long and again innovant, rarely two innovant branches.

1918, William Henry Pearson, “Notes on a Collection of Hepatics from the Cameroons, West Coast of Africa”, in Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society, page 4:

(botany) Growing out of older branches rather than from the main stem.


karyoplast

(cytology) A cellular nucleus together with a plasma membrane containing a small amount of cytoplasm


accolé

accolée (alternative)
accolee (alternative)

From French accolé, past participle of accoler.

Sometimes the trophozoites are seen as crescent-shaped masses at the periphery of the erythrocyte (accolé forms ).

2005, Mary Louise Turgeon, Clinical Hematology: Theory and Procedures, →ISBN, page 106:

Ring forms of Plasmodium falciparum. note the multiple ring forms and appliqué (accolé) forms within the individual erythrocytes, which is characteristic of this organism.

2012, Patrick R. Murray, Ken S. Rosenthal, Michael A. Pfaller, Medical Microbiology,with STUDENT CONSULT Online Access,7, →ISBN:

“Accolé” ring forms (occasionally met with in benign and quartan infection) are very common in malignant malaria and are seen as minute faint blue semi-circles of cytoplasm on the margin of red cells, the chromatin dot being frequently seen on the free apex of the part of the red cell enclosed by the semi-circle.

2013, C. L. Dunn, D. D. Pandya, The Chemistry and Bacteriology of Public Health, →ISBN, page 323:


deiminated

deiminated (comparative more deiminated, superlative most deiminated)

more deiminated (comparative)
most deiminated (superlative)

(biochemistry) Subject to deimination; citrullinated


deimination

(biochemistry, genetics) The removal or conversion of an imine group; especially the post-translational modification of the amino acid arginine in a protein into the amino acid citrulline


antianalgesia

(biochemistry) The ability of certain endogenous chemicals (notably cholecystokinin and neuropeptide Y) to counter the effects of exogenous analgesics (such as morphine) or endogenous pain-inhibiting neurotransmitters and modulators.


calbindin

en-noun

calbindin (countable and uncountable, plural calbindins)

(biochemistry) Any of a class of calcium-binding proteins first described as the vitamin D-dependent calcium binding proteins in intestine and kidney.


calretinin

calretinin (countable and uncountable, plural calretinins)

(biochemistry) A vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding protein involved in calcium signalling and abundantly expressed in neurons; it stains mesothelioma and can help to identify lung tumours.


reelin

From reel + -in, from the abnormal gait of reeler mice, later found to be deficient in this protein.

(biochemistry) A protein that helps to regulate processes of neuronal migration and positioning in the developing brain.


apicoplast

(microbiology) A relict, non-photosynthetic plastid found in most of the Apicomplexa, proposed to have evolved via secondary endosymbiosis and surrounded by four membranes within the outermost part of the endomembrane system

apicoplaste

a relict, non-photosynthetic plastid found in most of the Apicomplexa


protoporphyrinogen oxidase

protoporphyrinogen IX
protoporphyrinogen IX

(biochemistry) An enzyme responsible for the seventh step in heme production, removing hydrogen atoms from protoporphyrinogen IX to form protoporphyrin IX.


anaplerotic

From anaplerosis, from Ancient Greek ἀνά (aná, “up”) + πληρόω (plēróō, “to fill”).

(biochemistry, of a reaction) Forming intermediates of a metabolic pathway (eg. the tricarboxylic acid cycle).

anaplerótico

of a reaction: forming intermediates of a metabolic pathway


phycoerythrobilin

phycoerythrobilin (countable and uncountable, plural phycoerythrobilins)

(biochemistry) A red phycobilin found in the phycobiliprotein phycoerythrin, of which it is the terminal acceptor of energy.


triiodothyronine

triiodothyronine (countable and uncountable, plural triiodothyronines)

(biochemistry) The most powerful thyroid hormone, affecting almost every process in the body, including body temperature, growth, and heart rate.


trehalase

trehalase (countable and uncountable, plural trehalases)

(biochemistry) A glycoside hydrolase enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of trehalose to glucose, found in most animals.


phycoerythrocyanin

phycoerythrocyanin (countable and uncountable, plural phycoerythrocyanins)

(biochemistry) A phycobiliprotein involved in photosynthesis, notably in Cyanobacteria and red algae.


phycocyanin

phycocyanin (countable and uncountable, plural phycocyanins)

(biochemistry) A pigment from the light-harvesting phycobiliprotein family, along with allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin, an accessory pigment to chlorophyll.


phycourobilin

phycourobilin (usually uncountable, plural phycourobilins)

(biochemistry) A tetrapyrrole orange molecule involved in photosynthesis in cyanobacteria and red algae.


phosphoglucoseisomerase

phosphoglucoseisomerases (plural)
phosphoglucose isomerase (alternative)

(biochemistry) Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase, an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate into fructose 6-phosphate in the second step of glycolysis.


glyoxysome

(biochemistry) Any of various specialized peroxisomes found in plants (particularly in the fat-storage tissues of germinating seeds) and also in filamentous fungi, serving to break down fatty acids and provide enzymes to produce intermediates for the synthesis of sugars by gluconeogenesis.


glucocerebrosidase

glucocerebrosidase (countable and uncountable, plural glucocerebrosidases)

(biochemistry) An enzyme that is needed to cleave, by hydrolysis, the beta-glucosidic linkage of glucocerebroside, an intermediate in glycolipid metabolism, and mutations in which cause Gaucher's disease.


ferrochelatase

ferrochelatase (countable and uncountable, plural ferrochelatases)

(biochemistry) An enzyme, localized to the mitochondrion, that catalyses the terminal (eighth) step in the biosynthesis of heme, converting protoporphyrin IX into heme


centrosphere

(biology) The cytoplasm surrounding the centriole of a centrosome.


ceratosaur

(zoology) Any of many dinosaurs of the infraorder Ceratosauria.


osmoticum

Second, potassium is a major osmoticum of plant cells, an especially crucial feature for plants under high-salt conditions, and one requiring controlled partitioning of the element among organs, tissues, and cell compartments.

1998 June 19, Emanuel Epstein, “How Calcium Enhances Plant Salt Tolerance”, in Science, volume 280, number 5371, →DOI, pages 1906–1907:

(biology) Any substance that acts to supplement osmotic pressure in a cell


preadipocyte

(biology) An undifferentiated fibroblast that can be stimulated to form an adipocyte


preadipose

(biology) Describing a cell or tissue that may be stimulated to become adipose


pseudoplanktonic

From pseudo- + planktonic or pseudoplankton + -ic.

(biology) Describing any marine organism (a pseudoplankton) that lacks buoyancy and so attaches itself to a floating object.


cyte

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κῠ́τος (kŭ́tos, “hollow”, “vessel”); compare -cyte.

bor

The low form elements devoid of a nucleus were in 1866 by Hæckel (Generelle Morphologie der Organismen 1866, vol. 1, p. 270) called cytodes (cell like) to distinguish them from cytes or cells.

1874 August, Louis Elsberg, «Regeneration, or the Preservation of Organic Molecules: A Contribution to the Doctrine of Evolution» in Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Twenty-third meeting, held at Hartford, Conn., August, 1874, ed. Frederic Ward Putnam (1875), part II, § B: “Natural History”, field iv: ‘Zoology’, page 90, footnote 1

(biology, rare) Synonym of cell (“quantity of protoplasm, containing a nucleus, enclosed within a cell membrane”).


topoisomerization

(biochemistry) A variation (isomerization) in the topology of a biological macromolecule (especially a nucleic acid)


annule

(zoology) A circular band formed by two transverse grooves in the cuticle of some nematodes with consequent apparent segmentation; annulus.


tryptone

en-noun

tryptone (countable and uncountable, plural tryptones)

Cells were grown from an overnight culture in tryptone broth at 30°C and then harvested.

2000 March 3, Philippe Cluzel et al., “An Ultrasensitive Bacterial Motor Revealed by Monitoring Signaling Proteins in Single Cells”, in Science, volume 287, number 5458, →DOI, pages 1652–1655:

(biochemistry) The assortment of peptides formed by the digestion of casein by trypsin, a protease. Often used in the preparation of lysogeny broth.


anoikic

Moreover, another process, autophagy — in which the cell digests some of its own components — is observed in anoikic cells.

2009 September 2, Eyal Gottlieb, “Cancer: The fat and the furious”, in Nature, volume 461, number 7260, →DOI, pages 44–45:

(cytology) Exhibiting anoikis, the form of apoptosis that occurs when a cell comes loose from its anchorage


anoikis

Pseudo-Greek coinage intended to have the sense of "homelessness". Compare Ancient Greek ἄνοικος (ánoikos, “homeless wanderer”).

cog

Loss of matrix attachment of cultured epithelial cells activates a caspase-mediated apoptotic program known as anoikis.

2009 August 19, Zachary T. Schafer et al., “Antioxidant and oncogene rescue of metabolic defects caused by loss of matrix attachment”, in Nature, volume 461, number 7260, →DOI, pages 109–113:

(cytology) The form of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, that occurs when a cell becomes dislodged from its matrix

anoiquia

cell death that occurs when a it becomes dislodged from its matrix


tetraloop

(genetics) A four-base hairpin loop motif in RNA secondary structure that caps many double helices


superovulate

en-verb

superovulate (third-person singular simple present superovulates, present participle superovulating, simple past and past participle superovulated)

superovulates (present singular third-person)
superovulating (participle present)
superovulated (participle past)
superovulated (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-superovulate.wav

(biology) To produce large quantities of mature ova.


softshell

(zoology) Having a relatively soft shell.


apyrase

(biochemistry) Any of a family of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of ATP, releasing phosphate and available energy

apirase

any of a family of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of ATP


hyperproliferation

(biology) An abnormally high rate of proliferation of cells by rapid division; substantial overproliferation.


mechanosensation

(biology) The physiological response to a mechanical stimulus.


photoswitch

(biochemistry) A compound whose structure is changed, and whose function is activated by light


photoswitching

en-noun

photoswitching (usually uncountable, plural photoswitchings)

(biochemistry) The modification of the structure of a compound by light, especially when accompanied by a change in function


phototropin

(biochemistry) Any of a class of photoreceptor flavoproteins that mediate phototropism in higher plants.


decerebrate

/dɪˈsɛɹəbɹət/

In this respect the decerebrate condition offers some resemblance to the cataleptic state.

1908, C. S. Sherrington, “On plastic tonus and proprioceptive reflexes”, in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology, page 117:

Take for instance the startling example of the experiments of Wever and Bray, when tones were led into the external meatus of the ear of a decerebrate cat and then greatly amplified electrical currents were tapped from the eighth cranial or auditory nerve.

1937, Christian A. Ruckmick, “Psychology tomorrow”, in Psychological Review, volume 44, page 148:

All brain tissue rostral to the diencephalon was removed, making the preparation a decerebrate one.

1997 November 7, Gonzalo Viana Di Prisco et al., “Role of Sensory-Evoked NMDA Plateau Potentials in the Initiation of Locomotion”, in Science, volume 278, number 5340, →DOI, pages 1122–1125:


rheostatic

en-adj

rheostatic (comparative more rheostatic, superlative most rheostatic)

more rheostatic (comparative)
most rheostatic (superlative)

From rheostat + -ic and rheostasis + -ic.

(biochemistry) Of or pertaining to rheostasis.


rheostasis

(biology) The regulation of some aspect of a biological organism in a changing environment.


amphiphysin

(biochemistry) Any of a class of protein associated with the cytoplasmic surface of synaptic vesicles

anfifisina

any of a class of protein associated with the cytoplasmic surface of synaptic vesicles


archaeogeneticist

(archaeology, genetics) A geneticist whose speciality is archaeogenetics

archeogenetikus

a geneticist whose speciality is archaeogenetics


chondroitinase

Animals that were given the treatment produced an enzyme called chondroitinase which breaks down scar tissue and allows the broken nerves to reconnect with each other.

(biochemistry) Any of a class of enzymes that catalyse the hydrolysis of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans.


depotentiation

en-noun

depotentiation (countable and uncountable, plural depotentiations)

/dɪpəˌtɛntʃɪˈeɪʃən/

(biochemistry) The action of a substance that reduces the effect of another substance


endophilin

(biochemistry) An accessory protein that has several functions associated with cell membranes


epsin

(biochemistry) A protein that has a function in maintaining cell membrane curvature


homologous recombination

homologous recombination (countable and uncountable, plural homologous recombinations)

(genetics) The exchange of DNA between regions of homologous chromosomes that occurs during meiosis.


fascin

(biochemistry) An actin-bundling protein.


glycohydrolase

glycohydrolase (countable and uncountable, plural glycohydrolases)

(biochemistry) Any of many enzymes that catalyse the hydrolysis of glycosides


griffithsin

(biochemistry) A protein, isolated from the red alga Griffithsia, that may have some use as a microbicide.


hemifission

(biology) An intermediate stage in the fission of cells


glucuronosyltransferase

glucuronosyltransferase (countable and uncountable, plural glucuronosyltransferases)

(biochemistry) A glycosyltransferase that catalyzes the glucuronidation reaction.


glypican

(biochemistry) Any of a family of heparan sulfate proteoglycans, anchored to the cell surface via a covalent linkage to glycosylphosphatidylinositol.


thermolysin

thermolysin (countable and uncountable, plural thermolysins)

(biochemistry) A thermostable neutral metalloproteinase enzyme produced by the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus thermoproteolyticus.


macrochaeta

Borrowed from New Latin macrochaeta, equivalent to macro- + chaeta.

(biology) A large chaeta found in certain organisms


mammosphere

(cytology) A clump of mammary gland cells that forms under certain circumstances


nexin

(biochemistry) A protein that constitutes a link between microtubules in cilia and flagella.


prohibitin

prohibitin (countable and uncountable, plural prohibitins)

(biochemistry) A protein, found in almost all living things, thought to have multiple functions.


puparium

A New Latin coinage from pūpa (“pupa”, originally “little girl; doll”) + -ārium (“place”), equivalent to English pupa + -arium.

suf

(entomology) An enclosing case of a pupa that is formed from the exoskeleton of an insect's final stage before pupation.


tensin

en-noun

tensin (countable and uncountable, plural tensins)

(biochemistry) A multidomain protein that binds to actin filaments.


innexin

(biochemistry) Any of a class of proteins used to create gap junctions in invertebrates


plasmodesma

plasmodesma (plural plasmodesmas or plasmodesmata)

plasmodesmas (plural)
plasmodesmata (plural)
plasmodesm (alternative)

From Ancient Greek πλάσμα (plásma, “something formed”) + δέσμα (désma).

der

(biology) A microscopic channel traversing the cell walls of plant cells and some algal cells, enabling transport and communication between them.

plasmodesme

a microscopic channel traversing the cell walls of plant cells and some algal cells, enabling transport and communication between them


connexon

From Latin connexus (“connected”) + -on.

(biochemistry) An assembly of six connexins forming a bridge called a gap junction between the cytoplasms of two adjacent cells.


stomiid

Since stomiids are sensitive to the far-red bioluminescence produced by their suborbital photophores, which other animals in the deep sea cannot see, they have what could be regarded as a private waveband.

2001, Friedrich G. Barth, Ecology of Sensing:

(ichthyology) Any member of the family Stomiidae of deep-sea ray-finned fish, including the barbeled dragonfishes, stareaters, and loosejaws.


pyrosequence

en-verb

pyrosequence (third-person singular simple present pyrosequences, present participle pyrosequencing, simple past and past participle pyrosequenced)

pyrosequences (present singular third-person)
pyrosequencing (participle present)
pyrosequenced (participle past)
pyrosequenced (past)

(transitive, genetics) To produce by pyrosequencing.


phosphoribosylamine

(biochemistry) An intermediate in purine metabolism.


amidophosphoribosyltransferase

(biochemistry) An enzyme that converts phosphoribosylpyrophosphate into 5-phosphoribosylamine.


phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate

(biochemistry) A pentose phosphate, formed from ribose 5-phosphate by the enzyme ribose-phosphate diphosphokinase, which plays a role in transferring phospho-ribose groups in several reactions.


aequorin

en-noun

aequorin (countable and uncountable, plural aequorins)

(biochemistry) A photoprotein, isolated from luminescent jellyfish and other marine organisms, composed of two distinct units: the apoprotein apoaequorin and the prosthetic group coelenterazine.

akworyna

a photoprotein isolated from luminescent jellyfish


thrombopoiesis

thrombopoiesis (usually uncountable, plural thrombopoieses)

(biochemistry) The process of thrombocyte generation.


megakaryocytopoiesis

megakaryocytopoiesis (usually uncountable, plural megakaryocytopoieses)

(biology) The cellular development process that leads to platelet production.


apoaequorin

apoaequorin (usually uncountable, plural apoaequorins)

/ˌæpəʊˈiːkwəɹɪn/

/ˌæpəʊ.iːˈkwɔːɹɪn/

(biochemistry) An apoprotein found in the photoprotein aequorin.


deiodinase

deiodinase (countable and uncountable, plural deiodinases)

(biochemistry) iodide peroxidase, an enzyme that is involved in the activation or deactivation of thyroid hormones


transaminate

en-verb

transaminate (third-person singular simple present transaminates, present participle transaminating, simple past and past participle transaminated)

transaminates (present singular third-person)
transaminating (participle present)
transaminated (participle past)
transaminated (past)

(transitive, biochemistry) To subject to transamination.


hyporachis

(ornithology) The downy lower barbs of a feather.


contour feather

en-noun

contour feather (plural contour feathers)

(ornithology) Any feather possessing a central shaft (rachis), usually with vanes composed of barbs.


flight feather

(ornithology) Any asymmetrical feather of the wing or tail of a bird.


tertial

From Latin tertius (“third”); the tertial feathers are the third row of feathers.

He continues — "There was the same rear up, with the head bent down, followed by an upjerk of the hind parts; the long sickle-shaped tertials, so noticeable in this species, seemed little if at all expanded, […]

1923, Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of North American Birds: Wild Fowl, page 76:

(ornithology) Any flight feather attached to the humerus (upper arm) of a bird.


nongregarious

(zoology) Not gregarious; solitary. Compare ungregarious.


hyperregulate

en-verb

hyperregulate (third-person singular simple present hyperregulates, present participle hyperregulating, simple past and past participle hyperregulated)

hyperregulates (present singular third-person)
hyperregulating (participle present)
hyperregulated (participle past)
hyperregulated (past)
hyper-regulate (alternative)

(biology) To regulate (salt content etc) to a greater than normal degree


etaerio

From French étairion, from Ancient Greek ἑταιρείᾱ (hetaireíā, “association”).

uder

Sometimes the achenia are aggregated upon a common receptacle, forming what is called an etaerio, as in the ranunculus, in which they are placed upon a dry receptacle, or in the strawberry, in which the receptacle is fleshy.

1882, Achenium, entry in The American Universal Cyclopædia, Volume 1, [Reprint of Chambers Encyclopædia], S. W. Green's Son, page 66

1953, John Melvin Lowson, Textbook of Botany, University Tutorial Press, page 318,
Clematis: actinomorphic; 4 petaloid sepals; petals 0; fruit an etaerio of achenes with persistent hairy styles.

Four types of aggregate fruits include etaerios of achenes, follicles, drupelets, and berries. Ranunculaceae species, including Clematis and Ranunculus have an etaerio of achenes, Calotropis has an etaerio of follicles, and Rubus species like raspberry, have an etaerio of drupelets. Annona have an etaerio of berries.

2018, Donovan Stevens, Daxton Ware, Biotechnology of Horticultural Crops, ED-Tech Press, page 62:

(botany) An aggregate fruit comprised of achenes, drupelets, follicles, or berries.


readthrough

(genetics) The situation where a modified stop codon allows transcription to continue beyond the usual point.


estrildid

Estrildids and ploceids are clearly different in courtship posture, clutch size, egg coloration, pattern in mouth of the young, and mode of begging of the young.

1968, Breviora, numbers 280-309, page 50:

Marschall and Prinzinger (1991) subjected five species of estrildids to the following calculation from laboratory measurements under different T_A: O₂ consumption, CO₂ production, RMR, TNZ, conductance and T_B.

1996, Gordon L. Maclean, Ecophysiology of Desert Birds, page 100:

The estrildids are all monogamous (forming long-term or life-long pair bonds) and exhibit biparental care.

2008, James L. Goodson, Chapter 1: Nonapeptides and the evolutionary patterning of sociality, page 8:

(zoology) Any weaverbird of the family Estrildidae.


locus classicus

From New Latin locus classicus (literally “classical place”).

bor

(biology) The locality from which a taxon was first described.


clado-

From Ancient Greek κλάδος (kládos, “shoot, branch”).


bandshift assay

en-noun

bandshift assay (plural bandshift assays)

In bandshift assays, hPot1p bound to the G-rich strand of human telomeric DNA.

2001 May 11, Peter Baumann, Thomas R. Cech, “Pot1, the Putative Telomere End-Binding Protein in Fission Yeast and Humans”, in Science, volume 292, number 5519, →DOI, pages 1171–1175:

(biochemistry) A type of assay using gel electrophoresis, in which the mobility of a DNA or RNA probe alone is compared to its mobility in combination with a particular protein, so as to measure the degree and nature of binding between the protein and DNA or RNA.


multifoliate

en-adj

multifoliate (comparative more multifoliate, superlative most multifoliate)

more multifoliate (comparative)
most multifoliate (superlative)


nonseptate

(botany) Lacking cell walls especially in fungi.


crenation

en-noun

crenation (countable and uncountable, plural crenations)

(biology) The contraction of, or formation of abnormal notchings around, the edges of a cell after exposure to a hypertonic solution, due to the loss of water through osmosis, especially noticeable in red blood cells.

(botany) A rounded tooth on the edge of a leaf.


amphotropic

en-adj

amphotropic (comparative more amphotropic, superlative most amphotropic)

more amphotropic (comparative)
most amphotropic (superlative)

(biology) Describing any virus or bacterium that infects a wide range of hosts


autoinhibit

en-verb

autoinhibit (third-person singular simple present autoinhibits, present participle autoinhibiting, simple past and past participle autoinhibited)

autoinhibits (present singular third-person)
autoinhibiting (participle present)
autoinhibited (participle past)
autoinhibited (past)

(biochemistry) To regulate a protein function through autoinhibition.


bauplan

Borrowed from German Bauplan (“building plan”).

(biology) A plan of the essential elements of the bodies of a related group of organisms.


biobanking

(biology) The storage of biological specimens in a biobank


bithorax

bithorax complex
bithorax complex#English

(genetics) Only used in bithorax complex


bithorax complex

en-noun

bithorax complex (plural bithorax complexes)

(genetics) A complex of genes that controls segmentation in fly embryos


decapped

en-adj

decapped (comparative more decapped, superlative most decapped)

more decapped (comparative)
most decapped (superlative)

(genetics) Describing nucleic acid molecules from which a cap has been removed


emerin

(biochemistry) A protein found in the nuclear membrane of vertebrate cells


homogametic

(biology) That produces, or contains, only one type of sex chromosome.


hyperacetylate

en-verb

hyperacetylate (third-person singular simple present hyperacetylates, present participle hyperacetylating, simple past and past participle hyperacetylated)

hyperacetylates (present singular third-person)
hyperacetylating (participle present)
hyperacetylated (participle past)
hyperacetylated (past)

(biochemistry) To cause or be subject to hyperacetylation


hyperacetylation

(biochemistry) The excessive acetylation of the lysine residues of a protein (especially of a histone)


iberiotoxin

Iberio of unknown origin, possibly from Iberia (“Spain”) or the plant genus Iberis, but neither are seemingly related; compound with toxin.

(biochemistry) An ion channel toxin obtained from the scorpion Buthus tamulus


arylesterase

(biochemistry) Any enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of an aryl ester

arilesterase

any enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of an aryl ester


multigenic

en-adj

multigenic (comparative more multigenic, superlative most multigenic)

more multigenic (comparative)
most multigenic (superlative)

(genetics) Describing an inherited characteristic that is specified by a combination of multiple genes.


ovotestis

(biology) A gonad with characteristics of both ovaries and testicles. Considered an intersex condition in humans and some other animals.


oxyphototrophic

oxyphototrophic (comparative more oxyphototrophic, superlative most oxyphototrophic)

more oxyphototrophic (comparative)
most oxyphototrophic (superlative)

(biology) Performing oxygenic photosynthesis (photosynthesis, where oxygen is produced as a byproduct).


posttranscriptionally

(genetics) Subsequent to the transcription of RNA.


bicipital

(botany) Having two heads or two supports.


pontin

(biochemistry) An ATPase that is a component of telomerase


pyrophosphorylase

(biochemistry) Any pyrophosphate transferase


spermatozoid

(biology) A motile, ciliated male gamete produced in the antheridium of an alga, fern or gymnosperm.


tetramutant

(genetics) A gene that has four mutations (often of the same type at different locations)


CFU

CFUs (plural)
cfu (alternative)
Cfu (alternative)

The three water samples for total coliform bacteria were 57,000 CFUs, 43,000 CFUs and 45,000 CFUs. (Colony-forming units, or CFUs, estimate the number of bacteria or fungal cells that have the ability to multiply in a sample.)

2017 September 1, Susan Scutti, “Sewage, fecal bacteria in Hurricane Harvey floodwaters”, in CNN:

colony-forming unit
colony-forming unit#English

(cytology, microbiology) Initialism of colony-forming unit.


polar body

(biology) One of the small cells that are by-products of the meiosis that forms an egg.


cromoglicic acid

(biochemistry, organic chemistry) A mast cell stabilizer, commonly marketed as its sodium salt, that prevents the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine from mast cells.


sulfiredoxin

en-noun

sulfiredoxin (countable and uncountable, plural sulfiredoxins)

(biochemistry) An oxidoreductase enzyme involved in antioxidant metabolism


die-off

A serious drought in 1785 and 1786 caused a die-off of cattle, which ruined many peasant families, especially in the south.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 361:

(chiefly biology) An incident or episode in which a particular species or organism dies off, especially in large numbers.


parthen-

From Ancient Greek παρθένος (parthénos, “virgin”).

uder

(botany and biology) absence of fertilisation, asexual reproduction


leuko-

From Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”).

leuc- (alternative before-vowel)
leuk- (alternative before-vowel)
leuco- (alternative)

leuko- + -emia → leukemia

leuko- + -penia → leukopenia


cellularly

cellularly derived spliceosomal snRNAs

(chiefly biology) In terms of, or by means of, biological cells.


bombesin

en-noun

bombesin (countable and uncountable, plural bombesins)

(biochemistry) A neural oligopeptide that stimulates the release of gastrin


cavicapture

(biochemistry) The temporary capture of a small molecule in a cavity of a biological macromolecule.


exocytosed

en-adj

exocytosed (comparative more exocytosed, superlative most exocytosed)

more exocytosed (comparative)
most exocytosed (superlative)


neurokinin

central nervous system
central nervous system

(biochemistry) A class of tachykinin oligopeptide of the mammalian central nervous system.


neuromedin

(biochemistry) Any of a family of peptides related to bombesin


picoeukaryote

(biology) Any eukaryotic organism that ranges in size from 0.2 to 2.0 µm.


prodynorphin

(biochemistry) An opioid polypeptide hormone involved with chemical signal transduction and cell communication.


triosephosphate

triosephosphates (plural)
triose phosphate (alternative)

(biochemistry) Any phosphate of a triose, but especially glycerophosphate.


acidergic

acidergic (comparative more acidergic, superlative most acidergic)

more acidergic (comparative)
most acidergic (superlative)

(biochemistry, especially in combination) activated or produced by a (specific) acid


cisgenic

(genetics) Describing a genetic modification in which genes from other species are not involved

cisgeeninen

of genetic modification without using genes from other species


dispase

(biochemistry) A protease that cleaves fibronectin and collagen


glycinergic

glycinergic (comparative more glycinergic, superlative most glycinergic)

more glycinergic (comparative)
most glycinergic (superlative)


helitron

(biology) A transposon found in eukaryotes.


immunophilin

(biochemistry) Any of a class of isomerases active in the immune system.


kinetin

(biochemistry) A tricyclic heterocyclic plant hormone that promotes cell division


neurofibromin

(biochemistry) Any of a group of proteins associated with neurofibromatosis


eruca

Borrowed from Latin eruca, in its senses of "caterpillar" and "colewort" respectively. Cognate with arugula, rucola, rocket, roquette.


polyornithine

(biochemistry) The polypeptide whose constituent amino acid is ornithine


secretome

(biochemistry) That part of a proteome consisting of proteins secreted from a cell


shastasaurid

(zoology) Any extinct ichthyosaur in the family Shastasauridae.


versican

(biochemistry) An extracellular matrix proteoglycan that is present in human tissue


foldome

(biochemistry) The totality of folded structures of proteins


ORFeome

(biology) The totality of open reading frames in a genome


phogrin

(biochemistry) A protein present on insulin-secretory granules of pancreatic beta cells


plasmalemma

en-noun

plasmalemma (plural plasmalemmas or plasmalemmata)

plasmalemmas (plural)
plasmalemmata (plural)


porocytosis

(biology) The secretion of neurotransmitters through an array of docked vesicle/secretory pore complexes


syncollin

(biochemistry) A small protein found in the exocrine pancreas


translatome

(genetics) The totality of proteins formed by translation of mRNA


unknome

(genetics, neologism) The totality of genes of unknown function in a genome.


physiome

(genetics) The totality of physiological functions associated with the genes of a genome


chromo

HP1 shares an ~50-amino acid NH 2 -terminal sequence motif, the chromo domain, with polycomb, an important regulatory gene that functions in the stable repression of homeotic genes during Drosophila development (28 ).

1998 April 24, Angus I. Lamond, William C. Earnshaw, “Structure and Function in the Nucleus”, in Science, volume 280, number 5363, →DOI, pages 547–553:

To determine whether the conserved domains, the chromo, SET, and cysteine-rich regions, were also critical for Clr4 HMTase activity, we tested mutant Clr4 proteins for HMTase activity.

2001 April 6, Jun-ichi Nakayama et al., “Role of Histone H3 Lysine 9 Methylation in Epigenetic Control of Heterochromatin Assembly”, in Science, volume 292, number 5514, →DOI, pages 110–113:

(genetics) Of or relating to the chromodomain, a protein structural domain associated with chromatin production


-therm

From Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós, “warm”).

(biology) used to name types of animal having a specified form of body temperature mechanism


urolith

nephrolith

sensu stricto, coordinate, but in practice any stone passed in the urine may be called a kidney stone, as the locus of its formation may not yet be known

(biology, medicine) A urinary stone, being any stone passed from the urinary tract, such as a bladder stone or a kidney stone.

A bladder stone as distinguished from a kidney stone or a ureterolith.


achlorophyllaceous

en-adj

achlorophyllaceous (comparative more achlorophyllaceous, superlative most achlorophyllaceous)

more achlorophyllaceous (comparative)
most achlorophyllaceous (superlative)

(chiefly botany, rare) Lacking chlorophyll; hence colourless


echino-

From combining form of Ancient Greek ἐχῖνος (ekhînos, “hedgehog”).

der

(chiefly zoology) Forming compound terms denoting something prickly or, specifically, indicating the sea urchin.


lapillus

(zoology) One of the otoliths in finfish.


procyonid

(zoology) Any member of the family Procyonidae, a New World family of the order Carnivora, including the raccoons, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, ringtails and cacomistles.


foundress

foundresses (plural)
founderess (alternative)

From Middle English founderess, founderesse, foundress (“female founder or builder of a city; female founder or benefactor of a religious house; (figuratively) female inventor or originator; (figuratively) a source”) [and other forms]; from founder, foundere, foundour (“founder or builder of a building, city, country, etc.; builder or endower of a church, college, monastery, etc.; benefactor or patron of such an institution; charter member of a guild; first head of a religious organization; inventor, originator; (figuratively) earliest of a class of people; (figuratively) a source”) + -esse (“suffix forming female forms of words”). Foundour is derived from Anglo-Norman fundur, Old French fondeor, fondeur (“creator, instigator, founder”) (modern French fondeur), from Latin fundātor (“founder”) (rare), from fundō (“to make by smelting, found”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”)) + -tor (suffix forming masculine agent nouns). The English word is analysable as founder + -ess (suffix forming female forms of words).

suffix

[T]he comparison of multiple inseminations and multiple foundress associations showed that the number of foundresses, a component of migration structure, affects the potential for social evolution more strongly than the number of inseminations per foundress, a component of the mating structure.

1987, Michael J. Wade, Felix J. Breden, “Kin Selection in Complex Groups: Mating Structure, Migration Structure, and the Evolution of Social Behaviors”, in B. Diane Chepko-Sade, Zuleyma Tang Halpin, editors, Mammalian Dispersal Patterns: The Effect of Social Structure on Population Genetics, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, part V (Mathematical Models of Population Structure), page 281:

When two [European paper wasp] foundresses meet at the nest site after hibernation, the foundress with the higher corpus allatum activity usually becomes dominant.

1991, Peter-Frank Röseler, “Reproductive Competition during Colony Establishment”, in Kenneth G. Ross, Robert W. Matthews, editors, The Social Biology of Wasps, Ithaca, N.Y., London: Comstock Publishing Associates, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, figure 9.4 caption, page 329:

Like many vertebrate cooperative breeders, foundress associations of paper wasps are composed of individuals of varying relatedness (typically full sisters, cousins, and unrelated individuals;[…]), […] However there is also very clear helping behaviour: subordinate foundresses hunt for caterpillars and other insect food to provision the offspring of the dominant female.

2021, Michael Taborsky, Michael A. Cant, Jan Komdeur, “Conflict”, in The Evolution of Social Behaviour, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 131, column 1:

(zoology, specifically) A female animal which establishes a colony.


PSG

en-noun

PSG (countable and uncountable, plural PSGs)

(biochemistry) Initialism of pregnancy-specific beta-1-glycoprotein 1, a protein that in humans is encoded by the PSG1 gene.


supergene

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-supergene.wav

(genetics) A group of neighbouring genes on a chromosome that are inherited together because of close genetic linkage and are functionally related in an evolutionary sense.


electrobiology

(physics, biology) The study of the production and use of electricity by biological organisms.

电生物学

study of the production of electricity by organisms


loment

(botany) A type of modified legume that breaks apart at constrictions occurring between the segments of the seeds.

loment

a type of modified legume that breaks apart at constrictions occurring between the segments of the seeds


hemipter

(zoology) Any organism of the order Hemiptera, including cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, and shield bugs.


flavoenzyme

(biochemistry) Any oxidoreductase that requires FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide) as a prosthetic group that functions in electron transfers


viperid

Originally only capitalized, from New Latin Viperidae (“taxonomic family”), as Vipera + -id.

der

(zoology) Any member of the family Viperidae; a viper.


rhizoid

(botany) A rootlike structure in fungi and some plants that acts as support and/or aids the absorption of nutrients.


sarcode

en-noun

sarcode (countable and uncountable, plural sarcodes)

Ancient Greek σάρξ (sárx, “flesh”) + -ode, coined by Félix Dujardin, French biologist and cytologist.

How a nerve comes to be sensitive to light, hardly concerns us more than how life itself originated; but I may remark that, as some of the lowest organisms, in which nerves cannot be detected, are known to be sensitive to light, it does not seem impossible that certain elements in their tissues or sarcode should have become aggregated and developed into nerves endowed with this special sensibility to its action.

1866, Charles Darwin, “Difficulties on Theory”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], 4th edition, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 215–216:

The amoeba — a mere shapeless mass of moving sarcode — digests rapidly and constantly without a trace of organism! An organism when dead we assume to be chemically the same as the living organism, but we cannot prove it.

1873, William Lonsdale Watkinson, William Theophilus Davison, The London Quarterly Review, volume 39, page 252:

(archaic, biology) Synonym of protoplasm.


cryptobiotic

(biology, obsolete) Relating to early simple organisms that have left no trace of their existence.


lysogen

(biology) A phage that can exist as a prophage within its host organism.


trophobiosis

trophobiosis (usually uncountable, plural trophobioses)

(zoology) A symbiotic association in which one organism obtains or provides food for another.


whiffle

en-verb

whiffle (third-person singular simple present whiffles, present participle whiffling, simple past and past participle whiffled)

whiffles (present singular third-person)
whiffling (participle present)
whiffled (participle past)
whiffled (past)
wiffle (alternative)

1662, in sense “flutter as blown by wind”, as whiff + -le (“(frequentative)”) and (onomatopoeia) sound of wind, particularly a leaf fluttering in unsteady wind; compare whiff. Sense “something small or insignificant” is from 1680.

(ornithology, of a bird) To descend rapidly from a height once the decision to land has been made, involving fast side-slipping first one way and then the other.


kleptoplasty

(biology) A symbiotic phenomenon whereby plastids from algae are sequestered by host organisms.


Beltian body

From Belt + -ian, after Thomas Belt (1832–1878), English geologist and naturalist.

(botany) A structure found on the tips of leaflets in some acacias, rich in lipids and proteins, believed to have evolved as part of a symbiotic relationship with ants.


glycocholic acid

(biochemistry) A crystalline bile acid involved in the emulsification of fats, a conjugate of cholic acid with glycine.


arabitol

(biochemistry) A sugar alcohol derived from the pentose arabinose

arabite

a sugar alcohol derived from the pentose arabinose


QTL

(genetics) Initialism of quantitative trait locus: a locus (gene) that is among the factors affecting a trait whose values of interest are continuous rather than merely two.


asparaginase

en-noun

asparaginase (countable and uncountable, plural asparaginases)

(biochemistry) An enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of asparagine to aspartic acid, used in chemotherapy.

asparaginaza

an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of asparagine to aspartic acid


promegakaryocyte

(biochemistry) A precursor cell for a megakaryocyte, arising from a megakaryoblast.


dihydrolipoamide

(biochemistry) A molecule produced by the action of dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase upon lipoamide.


zymosterol

zymosterol (countable and uncountable, plural zymosterols)

(biochemistry) A cholesterol intermediate.


ibogaine

ibogaine (countable and uncountable, plural ibogaines)

The biotech is launching clinical trials looking at ibogaine […] as a treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI), they said. Ibogaine has historically been used in spiritual rituals by forest-dwelling tribes in Gabon for its mind-altering effects.

2024 July 23, Oliver Barnes, “Google co-founder Brin backs biotech tapping psychedelic shrub for remedies”, in Financial Times, page 1:

(biochemistry) A naturally-occurring psychoactive compound found in a number of plants, principally iboga (Tabernanthe iboga), and used for medicinal and ritual purposes in African spiritual traditions of the Bwiti. Its use in opioid addiction treatment seems promising but has safety issues.

ibogaína

a psychoactive compound found in some plants


magnetotaxis

From magneto- + taxis; coined in 1975 by R. P. Blakemore to describe certain motile aquatic bacteria.

(biology) The supposed ability to sense a magnetic field and coordinate movement in response, later discovered to be natural magnetism: such creatures orient themselves magnetically even after death

magnétotactisme

the supposed ability to sense a magnetic field and coordinate movement in response


maturational

en-adj

maturational (comparative more maturational, superlative most maturational)

more maturational (comparative)
most maturational (superlative)

(biology) Of, pertaining to, or promoting maturation.


ninein

(biochemistry) A protein that has a centrosomal function


transrepression

(biochemistry) The repression of the activity of one protein by another


green water

(ecology) Water, mostly from rain, that replenishes the water lost by evaporation or respiration from forests.


penicillinase

en-noun

penicillinase (countable and uncountable, plural penicillinases)

To date, there have been only 23 confirmed cases of penicillinase-producing gonococcus (totally penicillin-resistant gonorrhea) reported in the United States.

1976 December 18, Carol S. Ribner, Sanford M. Reder, “Boston's Gay Health Collective Replies to GCN”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 25, page 5:

(biochemistry) A specific type of beta-lactamase showing specificity for penicillins.


biliverdin

biliverdin (countable and uncountable, plural biliverdins)

From international scientific vocabulary, from German Biliverdin. By surface analysis, bili- + Italian verde + -in. The German word was naturalized into other languages as international scientific vocabulary (e.g., biliverdin, biliverdine, biliwerdyna).

surf

(biochemistry) A green tetrapyrrolic bile pigment, a product of heme catabolism, responsible for the greenish color sometimes seen in bruises.


urobilin

en-noun

urobilin (countable and uncountable, plural urobilins)

(biochemistry) A yellow linear tetrapyrrole resulting from the breakdown of heme, produced when urobilinogen is oxidized by intestinal bacteria.


urobilinogen

(biochemistry) A colourless product of bilirubin reduction, formed in the intestines by bacterial action


stercobilin

From Latin stercus (“dung, excrement”) + Latin bīlis (“bile”).

(biochemistry) A tetrapyrrolic bile pigment, one of the end products of heme catabolism, responsible for the brown colour of human faeces


flavan

(biochemistry) Any of a class of benzopyran derivatives, found in plants, that use the 2-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-chromene skeleton


glyoxalase

glyoxalase (countable and uncountable, plural glyoxalases)

(biochemistry) Either of a pair of related thiol-dependent enzymes: glyoxalase І, which catalyses the isomerisation of the spontaneously formed hemithioacetal adduct between GSH and 2-oxoaldehydes (such as methylglyoxal) into S-2-hydroxyacylglutathione; and glyoxalase ІІ, which hydrolyses these thiolesters.


opisthobranch

/ɵˈpɪsθəbɹæŋk/

(zoology) A gastropod with gills behind the heart, formerly thought to belong to a single group.


dorid

(zoology) Any member of the taxonomic superfamily Doridoidea of nudibranchs.


founder effect

The view that Navajo neuropathy was purely inherited continued to have its adherents. It did seem logical. There were multiple cases within families. The syndrome had appeared suddenly, the way a “founder effect” disease might.

2006 November 20, Judy Pasternak, “Oases in Navajo Desert Contained 'A Witch's Brew'”, in Los Angeles Times:

(genetics, evolutionary theory) A reduction in genetic diversity resulting when a population is descended from a small number of colonizing ancestors.

تَأْثِير المُؤَسِّس

lessening of genetic variation when the entire population descends from a small number of founders


coilin

(biochemistry) A protein that is one of the main molecular components of Cajal bodies, connecting them to the nucleolus.


multijugate

en-adj

multijugate (comparative more multijugate, superlative most multijugate)

more multijugate (comparative)
most multijugate (superlative)

(botany, of a pinnate leaf) Having more than one pair of leaflets.


plicate

plicate (comparative more plicate, superlative most plicate)

more plicate (comparative)
most plicate (superlative)

From Latin plicātus, perfect passive participle of plicō (“to fold”), see -ate.

(biology) Folded multiple times lengthwise like a fan, usually lending stiffness to a flat structure such as a leaf; corrugated; pleated.


plicate

en-verb

plicate (third-person singular simple present plicates, present participle plicating, simple past and past participle plicated)

plicates (present singular third-person)
plicating (participle present)
plicated (participle past)
plicated (past)

(chiefly biology) To fold or pleat (usually used in passive).


limbate

en-adj

limbate (comparative more limbate, superlative most limbate)

more limbate (comparative)
most limbate (superlative)

From Latin limbātus, from limbus (“edge, border”).

(biology, paleontology) Having a distinct edge, especially one of a different colour; bordered.


isogamete

(biology) Either of a pair of conjugating gametes that are of the same size and structure


merlucciid

(zoology) Any member of the family Merlucciidae of codlike fishes, including most hakes.


heterosporous

(botany, of an organism) Producing both male and female gametophytes.


costamere

From Latin costa (“side, wall”) + -mere (“part, segment”).

af

(biology) A structural-functional component of striated muscle cells which connects the sarcomere of the muscle to the sarcolemma.


malaco-

From Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós, “soft”), the word that French mollusque (“mollusk”), originally from Latin mollis (“soft”) was meant to be a calque of.

(biology) Forms terms relating to molluscs.

malacoid


crispant

(genetics) A F0 generation mutant generated by CRISPR/Cas9-directed genome editing.


lithoautotroph

(biology) A microbe that takes energy from reduced compounds of minerals.


lupulin

en-noun

lupulin (countable and uncountable, plural lupulins)

(botany) Small hairs obtained from the strobili of the hop plant.


nonagrian

(zoology) Any one of the moths of the genus Nonagria.


chaetotaxy

chaetotaxy (countable and uncountable, plural chaetotaxies)

chaetotaxies (plural)
chætotaxy (alternative)
chaeototaxy (alternative)
chetotaxy (alternative)

By analogy to phyllotaxy, substituting the prefix chaeto- from Greek χαίτη (khaítē). By surface analysis, chaeto- -taxy (compare taxis).

I propose the term Chætotaxy for the arrangement of bristles on the different parts of the body of the Diptera, the composition of this term being analogous to phyllotaxy, the order or arrangement of leaves of plants.

1884 November 5, C. R. Osten-Sacken, “An Essay of Comparative Chætotaxy, or the arrangement of characteristic bristles of Diptera”, in Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, London, page 497:

(zoology) The arrangement of, and study of arrangement of, chaetae (chitinous bristles) on a species or subspecies of animal, usually and especially an arthropod or annelid.


semantide

From semanto- + -ide. Coined by Linus Pauling and Emile Zuckerkandl.

(biology) A macromolecule common to all cells, used in phylogeny because they change slowly over time.


anodon

(zoology) Any of the genus Anodon, now Anodonta, of freshwater bivalves.

anodonte

any of the genus Anodonta of freshwater bivalves


intrinsic protein

intrinsic protein (plural intrinsic proteins)

(biochemistry) A protein (or group of proteins) permanently attached to a biological membrane by interactions between its hydrophobic dimer units and the phospholipids of the membrane


eutely

From Ancient Greek εὐ- (eu-, “good”) (modern sense: “true”) + τέλος (télos, “result, end”) + -y, i.e. “the state of having a true limit”.

(microbiology, cytology) The property of a species that all members have the same pattern of cell division, and thus the same number of cells, either in the whole body or in a particular organ system such as the nervous system.


acetonemia

acetonaemia (alternative)
acetonæmia (alternative)

(veterinary medicine) Presence of excessive levels of acetone in blood, sometimes occurring in cows during the first weeks after giving birth to a calf.

asetonitauti

presence of excessive levels of acetone in blood


adrenosterone

(biochemistry) A hormone, originally isolated from the adrenal cortex, that has weak androgenic effects.


inia

(zoology) Any South American freshwater dolphin of genus (Inia), with a hairy snout.


ursid

(zoology) Any species of the family Ursidae; a bear, a giant panda, or any of certain extinct relatives.

ursidé

any member of the family Ursidae, the bears


PARP

PARP (countable and uncountable, plural PARPs)

In the chromatin, polyADP-ribosylation apparently regulates the interaction of PARPs and their substrates with protein partners and DNA.

2009, Dana Inbar-Rozensal, “A selective eradication of human nonhereditary breast cancer cells by phenanthridine-derived polyADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors”, in Breast Cancer Research:

(biology) Initialism of polyADP-ribose polymerase.


gein

Borrowed from German Geïn, coined by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1832, from Ancient Greek γήινος (gḗinos, “of earth”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”).

der

Hence, a most interesting conclusion—without salts and gein we have no vegetable production. The gein in solution is essential to fruit, and yet, without the salts, the insolubility of gein would leave the soil barren.

1843 January 9, Henry Bidleman Bascom, “Glance at the Natural History and Philosophy of Agriculture […]”, in Thomas N. Ralston, editor, Posthumous Works of the Rev. Henry B. Bascom, […], volume 2, published 1856, page 201:

The humic acid and other similar acids (ulmic, geïn, &c.) have a very strong affinity for ammonia, which itself is essential to the nourishment of forest growth, as plants have only a limited power of assimilating the free nitrogen of the air.

1893, John Nisbet, Soil and Situation in Relation to Forest Growth, page 10:

Thus with a free supply of air the residue is mainly humin; with less air it is ulmin; and when air is excluded it is gein.

1907, Philip R. Björling, Frederick T. Gissing, Peat: Its Use and Manufacture, page 6:

(organic chemistry, biochemistry, dated) Humic acid.


exogamous

(biology, marriage) Of or relating to exogamy.


australopith

australopiths (plural)
Australopith (alternative)

/ˈɒstɹələˌpɪθ/

The incisors are more similar in size to the molars compared to earlier australopiths—a condition which is also more humanlike.
The limb bones indicate A. garhi had small stature like earlier australopiths.

2007, Holly M. Dunsworth, Human Origins 101, page 78:

Most authorities would nowadays concur that the australopiths were generally committed to habitats with at least some trees, to which they were more or less tied for sleeping and for shelter from predators during the day, as well as for a large part of their sustenance.

2008, Rob DeSalle, Ian Tattersall, Human Origins: What Bones And Genomes Tell Us About Ourselves, page 118:

Later we'll consider how these principles apply to australopith craniofacial function, but first let's review briefly how different australopiths accommodated large teeth and big masticatory muscles, and how they grew large, buttressed faces.

2011, Daniel E. Lieberman, The Evolution of the Human Head, page 451:

(anthropology, paleontology) Any of the hominids of the extinct genus Australopithecus.

australopithecine

depending on the classification scheme used


australopith

en-adj

australopith (comparative more australopith, superlative most australopith)

more australopith (comparative)
most australopith (superlative)
Australopith (alternative)

/ˈɒstɹələˌpɪθ/

(anthropology, paleontology) Of or pertaining to the hominids of the extinct genus Australopithecus.


paraclade

(genetics) A group of paraphyletic or monophyletic evolutionary lineages


LUCA

LUCAs (plural)
Luca (alternative)
L.U.C.A. (alternative)
L. U. C. A. (alternative)

Luca is now usually placed deep underground, in a fissure in hot igneous rocks, where she fed on sulphur, iron, hydrogen and carbon.

1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2000, page 19:

It was around 2.9 billion years ago that LUCA split into the three domains of life: the single-celled bacteria and archaea, and the more complex eukaryotes that gave rise to animals and plants[…].

2011 November 26, Michael Marshall, “Our ancestor, the mega-organism”, in New Scientist, page 8:

last universal common ancestor
w:en:last universal common ancestor

(taxonomy, biology, paleontology) Initialism of last universal common ancestor; the hypothesised most recent primordial organism that is an ancestor to all organisms now living.

viimeinen universaali esivanhempi

hypothesised last common ancestor to all organisms


antimere

(biology) One of the two halves of bilaterally symmetrical animals; one of any opposite symmetrical or homotypic parts in animals and plants.

Antimer

one of the two halves of bilaterally symmetrical organisms


thermoreceptor

(biology) A nerve cell that is sensitive to changes in temperature


hyalomere

(biology) The clear part of a blood platelet.


hypomere

(biology) A part that the walls of a pleuroperitoneal cavity grow.

hypomère

a part that the walls of a pleuroperitoneal cavity grow


invertin

(obsolete, biochemistry) Any enzyme that converts a sugar to an invert sugar; saccharase.


Japanese spitz

en-noun

Japanese spitz (plural Japanese spitzes)

(zoology) A small breed of dog from Japan, having a somewhat square body, deep chest, and very thick, pure white double coat.


omic

From ome + -ic or a back-formation from omics.

Following the success of the human genome project effort, several other “omic” disciplines have emerged, with the goal of analyzing the components of a living organism in its entirety.

2000 January, Glen A. Evans, “Designer science and the “omic” revolution”, in Nature Biotechnology, volume 18, →DOI, page 127:

Functional genomic and proteomic (‘omic’) approaches can be helpful to accelerate the identification of the genes and gene products involved in particular modules, and to describe the functional relationships between them.

2003 October, Hui Ge, Albertha J.M. Walhout, Marc Vidal, “Integrating ‘omic’ information: a bridge between genomics and systems biology”, in Trends in Genetics, volume 19, number 10, →DOI, →ISSN, page 551:

(biology) Of or pertaining to an ome or omics.


proboscidate

en-adj

proboscidate (comparative more proboscidate, superlative most proboscidate)

more proboscidate (comparative)
most proboscidate (superlative)

From Latin proboscis (proboscid- in compounds) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

af

The visitor [...] returned several times to the pictures of little Armande in her bath, pressing a proboscidate rubber toy to her shiny stomach or standing up, dimple-bottomed, to be lathered.

1972, Vladimir Nabokov, Transparent Things, McGraw-Hill, published 1972, pages 40–1:

(chiefly zoology) Having, or shaped like, a proboscis.


sense strand

(genetics) A strand of (two-stranded) DNA which is transcribed into mRNA.


dogman

From dog (“the domesticated mammal Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris”) + -man (suffix denoting someone (possibly implied male) who is an expert in an area, who is employed or holds a position in an area, or who takes part in an activity) or man (senses 2 and 3).

suffix

[T]his tradition certainly influenced that of Dog-Men (cynanthropy) and of dog-headed men (cynocephaly), […] Dog-Men, however, have historically enjoyed a much richer and more varied mythology than their lycanthropic cousins, no doubt as a result of the ambiguity of the dog itself as much as of cultural or historical trends.

1991, David Gordon White, “Hell is Other People”, in Myths of the Dog-man, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 15:

A dogman’s legs are back bent, crooked as a dog’s. Its body is covered in fine fur, and its face has a dog-like snout and ear. A dogman’s arms and torso are completely humanoid, save for the its strange paws, that are vaguely human-like, but with thick dark claws.

2002, Sovereign Stone: Bestiary of Loerem, Lake Geneva, Wis.: Sovereign Press, →ISBN, page 56, column 1:

I was interested in the Wisconsin dogman sightings, which were kind of scary, but when you started talking about the ones showing up in bedrooms I must have been agape and my hair [standing] on end.

2016, Linda S. Godfrey, quoting Matt Ballotti, “Shadow Wolves”, in Monsters among Us: An Exploration of Otherworldly Bigfoots, Wolfmen, Portals, Phantoms, and Odd Phenomena, New York, N.Y.: TarcherPerigee, →ISBN, pages 95–96:

Sightings of mysterious creatures that appear to be part human and part wolf are reported in modern times all over the world. […] Their apparent hybrid nature makes them “dogmen” or “man-wolves.” […] Reports of dogmen date to ancient times. In some cases, they were thought to be a type of debased human.

2018, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, “Introduction: An Overview of Werewolves and Their Kin”, in Rosemary Ellen Guiley, editor, Fate Presents Werewolves and Dogmen, New Milford, Conn.: Visionary Living, →ISBN:

(cryptozoology, mythology) An alleged cryptid or mythological creature that is part dog and part man; also (religion) a deity who is part dog and part man.


sestrin

(biochemistry) Any of a family of proteins that play key roles in regulating aging and metabolism


allochronic

(biology, of taxa) occurring in different geologic time periods


nonmouse

Nonmouse transgenic models

1995, David Dawbarn, Shelley J Allen, Neurobiology of Alzheimer's disease:

...vectors containing the amphotropic envelope protein can infect both mouse and nonmouse cells.

2005, David Curiel, Joanne T Douglas, Cancer gene therapy:

(chiefly biology) Not of or pertaining to mice.


vaccinium

Borrowed from translingual Vaccinium, itself borrowed from Latin vaccīnium.

(botany) Any of the genus Vaccinium of ericaceous shrubs including the various kinds of blueberries and the true cranberries.


palpator

(zoology, dated) One of a family of clavicorn beetles, including those which have very long maxillary palpi.