macronucleus

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

English

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

[edit]

From macro- +‎ nucleus.

Noun

[edit]

macronucleus (plural macronuclei)

  1. (biology) The larger of the two nuclei present in ciliate protozoans; it controls the nonreproductive functions of the cell.
    • 1890, American Philosophical Society, Proceedings:
      These binucleated forms have one macronucleus functional and another sexual micronucleus which is not functional in the ordinary life processes of the species.

Synonyms

[edit]