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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

• endosymbiotic adjective

Etymology

Origin of endosymbiosis

First recorded in 1935–40; endo- + symbiosis

Example Sentences

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

From Science Daily • Sep. 29, 2023

It’s not at all clear that the ancestral proto-eukaryote had that ability, Martin says — which would make the barrier to that first endosymbiosis much higher.

From Scientific American • Jun. 13, 2022

Strong evidence points to endosymbiosis as the explanation.

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

Genetic and morphological studies suggest that plastids evolved from the endosymbiosis of an ancestral cell that engulfed a photosynthetic cyanobacterium.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013