acrasin

American

[uh-krey-sin] / əˈkreɪ sɪn /

noun

Mycology.

a chemotactic substance, identical with cAMP, secreted by myxamebas of cellular slime molds and attracting other myxamebas to aggregate and form a pseudoplasmodium.

Etymology

Origin of acrasin

1945–50; < New Latin Acras ( iales ) an order of cellular slime molds ( Acras ( is ) a genus, so named from the lack of fusion between the cells (< Greek; see a- ⁶, crasis) + -ales -ales ) + -in ²

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Then, a bell sounds, and acrasin is released by special cells toward which the others converge in stellate ranks, touch, fuse together, and construct the slug, solid as a trout.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023