SYMBIOTIC

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does symbiotic mean? 

• SYMBIOTIC (adjective)
  The adjective SYMBIOTIC has 1 sense:

1. used of organisms (especially of different species) living together but not necessarily in a relation beneficial to each

  Familiarity information: SYMBIOTIC used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SYMBIOTIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Used of organisms (especially of different species) living together but not necessarily in a relation beneficial to each

Similar:

dependent (relying on or requiring a person or thing for support, supply, or what is needed)

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Derivation:

symbiosis (the relation between two different species of organisms that are interdependent; each gains benefits from the other)

 Context examples 

The fossil evidence from Tanzania confirmed that date, allowing researchers to more accurately characterize the timing and evolution of the symbiotic relationship between termites and fungi.

(Researchers discover oldest evidence of 'farming' by insects, NSF)

Any organism that has a close, symbiotic relationship with a separate, host organism.

(Parasite, NCI Thesaurus)

The discovery stems from scientist Maria Harrison’s focus on plants’ symbiotic relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi.

(Plant gene discovery could help reduce fertilizer pollution in waterways, National Science Foundation)

Each reef-building coral unit is a collection of polyps living in symbiotic partnership with zooxanthellae algae.

(Voracious fish defend coral reefs against warming, Wikinews)

Called odilorhabdins, or ODLs, the antibiotics are produced by symbiotic bacteria found in soil-dwelling nematode worms that colonize insects for food.

(A New Class of Antibiotics to Combat Drug Resistance, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Lactobacillus fermented extract is made from soymilk fermented by several strains of lactobacillus and yeast via a symbiotic co-culturing technology.

(Lactobacillus Fermented Extract, NCI Thesaurus)

A taxonomic family of rhizobial, symbiotic bacterium in the phylum Proteobacteria that are found in plant roots and perform nitrogen fixation.

(Brucellaceae, NCI Thesaurus)

"This symbiotic process enables the clams and bacteria to live in environments that are not necessarily hospitable," said Clemson University biologist Barbara Campbell.

(Microbe diversity is key to healthy coastal ecosystems, National Science Foundation)

As antibodies that occur naturally due to sensitization to alpha-Gal present on symbiotic bacterial flora, anti-alpha-Gal Igs are present in unusually high amounts in human sera.

(Alpha-Gal Glycosphingolipids, NCI Thesaurus)

An enlargement or swelling on the roots of legumes and certain other plants inhabited by symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

(Nodule, Food and Drug Administration)