endosymbiosis

American  

[en-doh-sim-bee-oh-sis, -bahy-] / ˌɛn doʊˌsɪm biˈoʊ sɪs, -baɪ- /

noun

Biology.

1. symbiosis in which one symbiont lives within the body of the other.

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endosymbiosis British  

/ ˌɛndəʊˌsɪmbɪˈəʊsɪs /

noun

1. a type of symbiosis in which one organism lives inside the other, the two typically behaving as a single organism. It is believed to be the means by which such organelles as mitochondria and chloroplasts arose within eukaryotic cells

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Other Word Forms

• endosymbiotic
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of endosymbiosis

First recorded in 1935–40; endo- + symbiosis

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

endosymbiosis

The Aiptasia sea anemone is a model system for research on endosymbiosis in corals and other cnidarians.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2023

In defense of the classical gradualist theory of evolution, nearly all biologists in the late 1960s rejected the theory of endosymbiosis as presented by Lynn Margulis in 1967.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

Both paradigms have an uncanny ability to absorb opposition, just as one microbe swallows another via endosymbiosis.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 15, 2019

Now we know that variations have many causes, including mutation, endosymbiosis, genetic drift, sexual recombination, epigenetic factors and, yes, horizontal gene transfer.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 15, 2019

According to this hypothesis, the mitochondrion was acquired before the nucleus, but both were acquired by endosymbiosis.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

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