holobiont

English

Etymology

holo- +‎ -biont

Noun

holobiont (plural holobionts)

  1. (ecology) A host organism plus its associated microorganisms
    • 2015 August 13, Christiane Schmidt et al., “Recent Invasion of the Symbiont-Bearing Foraminifera Pararotalia into the Eastern Mediterranean Facilitated by the Ongoing Warming Trend”, in PLoS ONE‎, volume 10, →DOI:
      The variables we considered include solar irradiance and turbidity, which are relevant to the symbiont photosynthesis and yearly minimum temperature, representing potential limiting factors for the holobiont.
    • 2018, Nicola Davis, The Guardian, 256 March:
      Some say we should be seen as a holobiont, a term that reflects the intimate, co-dependent relationship humans have with microbes.
    • 2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 103:
      Holobionts are the lichens of this world, the more-than-the-sums of parts.
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