bio-, bi-, -bia, -bial, -bian, -bion, -biont, -bius, -biosis, -bium, -biotic, -biotical

1. Microscopic soil organisms not visible with the aid of a hand lens (magnifier).
2. Flora and fauna composed of microscopical organisms.

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1. Applied to one symbiont that is noticeably smaller than the other.
2. The smaller of two symbiotic organisms.

Specific points in a finger image.

There are two main types, known as ridge endings and bifurcations. Sometimes, other details; such as, the points at which scars begin or terminate, are considered minutiae.

The number and locations of the minutiae vary from finger to finger in any particular person, and from person to person for any particular finger; for example, the thumb on the left hand.

When a set of finger images is obtained from an individual, the number of minutiae is recorded for each finger. The precise locations of the minutiae are also recorded, in the form of numerical coordinates, for each finger.

The result is a function that can be entered and stored in a computer database. A computer can rapidly compare this function with that of anyone else in the world whose finger image has been scanned.

1. The use of comparative measurements of form in the classification or analysis of relationships among organisms.
2. The statistics of the shape, size, and structure of living things or parts of them.

1. The fungal partner of a lichen (algal, fungal symbiosis).
2. The symbiotic fungal constituent of a lichen.

Lichens are composite organisms containing one of the fungi and one of the algae or cyanobacteria in symbiotic association.

The fungal flora of an area or habitat.

A symbiotic relationship between ants; consociation (a friendly association or alliance).

A symbiosis between an ant and its host plant.

1. The degeneration and death of the body’s cells from natural processes.
2. Physiologic or normal death of cells or tissues as a result of changes associated with development, aging, or use.
3. A state of degeneration of a part or tissue in which some portions are alive and others are dead.

1. A reference to the process of decay or death in tissues of the body; the gradual degeneration and death of a part through suspended or imperfect nutrition; an instance of this.
2. Characterized by the physiological or normal death of cells or tissues as a result of changes associated with development, aging, or use.
3. Relating to the gradual degeneration and death of a part as a result of malnutrition; necrosis.

A symbiosis established between two living organisms in which one symbiont continues to use the other as a food source even after complete or partial death has occurred.

The theory that some people have had that life can originate from nonliving matter: Neobiogenesis is even a concept that life has been generated from inorganic material repeatedly in nature.