proto-, prot- +

1. A microorganism that has the same nutritional requirements as the parent organism.
2. A bacterial strain that has the same nutritional requirements as the wild-type strain from which it was derived.
3. An organism or cell capable of synthesizing all of its metabolites from inorganic material, requiring no organic nutrients.

1. Denoting the ability to undertake anabolism or to obtain nourishment from a single source, as with iron, sulfur, or nitrifying bacteria or photosynthesizing plants.
2. Certain bacteria requiring only inorganic substances for growth.
3. Certain microorganisms requiring no specific nutriments for growth.
4. Bacteria with the same nutritional requirements as that of the normal wild type.

Representing, or constituting, an original type of the first units manufactured of a product that is tested so the design can be changed if necessary before the item is commercially manufactured: "The auto company presented its latest prototypal model of a new electric car."

1. The original form of something, which has the essential features and is the model for subsequent forms: Ralph is developing a prototype for his new computer application.
2. A first full-size functional model to be manufactured; such as, a car or a machine: The newspaper has an article stating that a prototype of the newest solar-powered car will be on display next week.
3. A standard example of a particular kind, class, or group of something: Anita is one of the prototypes of successful business people.
4. In biology, a primitive form believed to be the original type of a species or group, exhibiting the essential features of the later type: The ancient drawings on the wall of the cave suggest prototypes of the animals that currently exist in the area. © ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more Mickey Bach illustrations.

A reference to an early or original form; specific examples include:

• Biology: a primitive or ancestral form of an organism.
• Engineering: a full-scale model of a structure or piece of equipment, used in evaluating form, design, fit, and performance.
• Psychology: the characteristic model or example on which a concept is based.

The first formed xylem or the tissue which is specialized for the transportation of water and minerals upward through the plant.

In botany, the tissue from which the xylem is developed; the primitive xylem of a fibro-vascular bundle.

Formerly, the name of an animal phylum comprising a large, diverse assortment of microscopic or near-microscopic one-celled heterotrophic organisms: The Protozoa is the subkingdom which comprises all unicellular animals (by some regarded as non-cellular).

Included in the group are some which may also be classified as plants, the distinction being that these possess chlorophyll.

That which destroys protozoa or protozoans: Jacky learned that a special agent called protozoacide used to be used to kill or exterminate tiny unicellular organisms.

A reference to protozoa or unicellular organisms.

A disease produced by single-celled organisms; such as, amebic dysentery (severe diarrhea, nausea, and inflammation of the intestines), sleeping sickness, and malaria.

A one-celled microscopic animal included in the kingdom of Protista: A protozoan can be a flagellate, ciliate, sporozoan or amoeba.

A protozoan can be any of a diverse group of eukaryotes (organisms composed of one or more cells, each of which contains a clearly defined nucleus enclosed by a membrane, along with organelles [small, self-contained, cellular parts that perform specific functions]), of the kingdom Protista, that are primarily unicellular, existing singly or aggregating in colonies, are usually nonphotosynthetic, and are often classified further into phyla according to their capacity for and means of motility, as by pseudopods, flagella, or cilia.

Infection with protozoans.

1. In zoology, pertaining to the Protozoa: Protozoic creatures are one-cells eukaryotes and can be parasitic, which feed on organic substances like organic debris or tissues, or they can be free-living.
2. In geology, referring to the remains of the earliest discovered life of the globe: Protozoic organisms included the mollusks, radiates, and protozoans.

"Radiates" are fibers of the articular capsule (sac enclosing a joint) that radiate from the costal cartilages to the anterior surface of the sternum.

The branch of zoology dealing with the study of protozoa: Protozoology is the area of research that focuses on single-celled parasitic organisms with flexible membranes and the ability to move.