chemotaxis

American  

[kee-moh-tak-sis, kem-oh-] / ˌki moʊˈtæk sɪs, ˌkɛm oʊ- /

noun

Biology.

1. oriented movement toward or away from a chemical stimulus.

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chemotaxis British  

/ ˌkɛməʊˈtæksɪs /

noun

1. the movement of a microorganism or cell in response to a chemical stimulus

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chemotaxis Scientific  

/ kē′mō-tăk′sĭs,kĕm′ō- /

1. The characteristic movement or orientation of an organism or cell along a chemical concentration gradient either toward or away from the chemical stimulus. Bacteria exhibit chemotaxis when they move toward a source of nutrients.

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Other Word Forms

• chemotactic adjective
• chemotactically adverb

Etymology

Origin of chemotaxis

First recorded in 1890–95; chemo- + -taxis

Example Sentences

They reach their destination by chemotaxis, following signals that lead them to the goal like a chemical yellow brick road.

From Scientific American

Individual cells, whether cancer cells, skin cells, or single-celled organisms like bacteria, generally know where to go by sensing attractive chemicals in their environments and moving toward them, a process called chemotaxis.

From Science Magazine

The cells chased the attractant through a process called chemotaxis, expanding rapidly across the dish before the local nutrients were depleted, so that most of the population had the nutrients needed to grow.

From Nature

Immune cells exploit them to move to infection sites, and cancer cells use chemotaxis to spread throughout the body.

From Scientific American

This process, called chemotaxis, is seen in present day crustaceans like spiny lobsters, which also line up in an antennae-to-tail procession as they migrate.

From New York Times