Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,919,642,226 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Osmophile

   Also found in: Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
osmophile [′äz·mə‚fīl]
(microbiology)
A microorganism adapted to media with high osmotic pressure.

Osmophile 

an organism capable of living in a substrate with a high osmotic pressure.

An organism’s compatibility with a certain habitat depends not so much on osmotic pressure as on the chemical properties of the medium. True osmophiles—organisms that grow equally well in isoosmotic solutions of different compositions—do not exist. Organisms are classified according to the dominant ion in their substrate and according to their need for that ion; thus, for instance, they can be calcephilic, magnophilic, fluorophilic, selenophilic, natrophilic, or kaliophilic. In such cases the osmotic pressure is derived from the chemical composition of the medium. Replacement of the substrate or change in its ionic composition usually results in death of the organism.



Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Mentioned in?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.