cryptobiosis

cryp·to·bi·o·sis

C5813650 (krĭp′tō-bī-ō′sĭs)n. A dormant state induced by unfavorable environmental conditions such as high or low temperature, reduced oxygen, or drought, in which an organism's metabolic activity is reduced to an imperceptible level.

cryp′to·bi·ot′ic (-ŏt′ĭk) adj.

cryptobiosis

(ˌkrɪptəʊbaɪˈəʊsɪs) n (Zoology) zoology a temporary state in an organism in which metabolic activity is absent or undetectable

cryptobiosis

Medicine. a state in which the signs of life of an organism have weakened to the point where they are barely measurable or no longer measurable. — cryptobiotic, adj.See also: Biology

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Noun

cryptobiosis - a state in which an animal's metabolic activities come to a reversible standstillphysical condition, physiological condition, physiological state - the condition or state of the body or bodily functions

cryptobiosis

Cryptobiosis

A state of life in which the metabolic rate of an organism is reduced to an imperceptible level. The several kinds of cryptobiosis (“hidden life”) include anhydrobiosis (life without water), cryobiosis (life at low temperatures), and anoxybiosis (life without oxygen). The most is known about anhydrobiosis.

States of anhydrobiosis occur in early developmental stages of various organisms, including seeds of plants, spores of bacteria and fungi, cysts of certain crustaceans, and larvae of certain insects; they occur in both developmental and adult stages of certain soil-dwelling micrometazoans (rotifers, tardigrades, and nematodes), mosses, lichens, and certain ferns.

A central question in the study of anhydrobiosis has been whether metabolism actually ceases. Available evidence strongly suggests that dry anhydrobiotes are ametabolic. In that case, a philosophical question immediately arises concerning the nature of life. This philosophical quandary can be avoided by applying the definition of life adopted by most students of anhydrobiosis: an organism is alive, provided its structural integrity is maintained. When that integrity is violated, it is dead. See Metabolism

cryptobiosis

[¦krip·tō·bī′ō·səs] (physiology) A state in which metabolic rate of the organism is reduced to an imperceptible level.

cryptobiosis

cryp·to·bi·o·sis

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Cryptobiosis

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Words related to cryptobiosis

noun a state in which an animal's metabolic activities come to a reversible standstill

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