Science / Biology Glossary

Coelomates: Animals that have a coelom or body cavity lined with mesoderm.

Coenzymes: Chemicals required by a number of enzymes for proper functioning; also known as enzyme cofactors.

Cohesion: The force that holds molecules of the same substance together.

Cohesion-Adhesion Theory: Describes the properties of water that help move it through a plant. Cohesion is the ability of water molecules to stick together (held by hydrogen bonds), forming a column of water extendin . . . View Full Definition

Collenchyma: One of the three major cell types in plants; are elongated and have thicker walls than parenchyma cells and are usually arranged in strands; provide support and are generally in a region tha . . . View Full Definition

Colonial: 1. Level of organization intermediate between unicellular and multicellular - organisms are composed of multiple cells but fail to exhibit specialization of those cells. Examples: Volvox, a . . . View Full Definition

Commensalism: A symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is not affected.

Community: All species or populations living in the same area.

Community Age: One of the factors that helps cause the latitudinal diversity gradient. Tropical communities have had more time to evolve because they have been less disrupted by advancing ice sheets and ot . . . View Full Definition

Community Simplification: The reduction of overall species diversity in a community; generally caused by human activity.

Community Succession: The sequential replacement of species in a community by immigration of new species and by local extinction of old ones.

Compact Bone: The outer dense layer that forms the shaft of the long bones; made up of concentric layers of mineral deposits surrounding a central opening.

Companion Cells: Specialized cells in the phloem that load sugars into the sieve elements and help maintain a functional plasma membrane in the sieve elements.

Competition: One of the biological interactions that can limit population growth; occurs when two species vie with each other for the same resource.

Competitive Exclusion: Competition between species that is so intense that one species completely eliminates the second species from the area.

Competitive Release: Occurs when one of two competing species is removed from an area, thereby releasing the remaining species from one of the factors that limited its population size.

Complement System: A chemical defense system that kills microorganisms directly, supplements the inflammatory response, and works with, or complements, the immune system.

Complementary Nucleotides: The bonding preferences of nucleotides, Adenine with Thymine, and Cytosine with Guanine. Also referred to as complementary base pairing.

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