chemo- occas. ˈchemio-,
(ˈkɛməʊ)
used as combining form = chemical a., in chemo-kinesis (ˌkɛməʊkaɪˈniːsɪs) [Gr. κίνησις movement] Biol., a condition of increased activity of an organism, induced by the presence of a chemical substance; hence ˌchemokiˈnetic (-kaɪˈnɛtɪk) a.; chemoˈreflex, a response to a chemical change in the environment by a motor reaction; also as adj., pertaining to or designating a reflex action resulting from a chemical stimulus; ˈchemostat [Gr. στατ-ός standing, after thermostat], a device designed to provide an environment that can be regulated and kept stable over a long period, esp. one used for the continuous cultivation of micro-organisms in which the nutrient medium is continually replenished; chemoˈsterilant (see quot. 1964); chemosynthesis (kɛməʊˈsɪnθɪsɪs) [Gr. σύνθεσις composition], the formation of carbohydrates out of inorganic compounds by an organism in darkness or in the absence of sunlight, as distinguished from ‘photosynthesis’; hence chemosynˈthetic a. (Webster 1911).
| 1900 Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. Apr. 398 The organisms soon leave the area of operation of the chemical causing the reactions. This phenomenon Garry calls ‘chemokinesis’. |
| 1901 G. N. Calkins Protozoa 299 If an effect is produced which is not directive, it is said to be chemokinetic. |
| 1902 Pop. Sci. Monthly Mar. 463 [The] complicated activities of such highly developed organisms as ants and bees may be subsumed, with surprising completeness, under some such heading as the ‘chemoreflex’. |
| 1950 Novick & Szilard in Science 15 Dec. 715/1 We have developed a device for keeping a bacterial population growing at a reduced rate over an indefinite period of time... This device..we shall refer to as the Chemostat. 1967 Guardian 7 Feb. 4/5 The chemostat was designed initially to provide a stable but controllably variable environment for the study of cell metabolism. |
| 1964 New Scientist 22 Oct. 210/3 The use of chemosterilants—compounds which sterilise insects and make them unable to breed—has been a promising recent development in man's war against insect pests. |
| 1903 W. H. Lang tr. Strasburger's Text-bk. Bot. 197 The necessary energy is here obtained not from photosynthesis but from the oxidation of ammonia into nitrous acid, and this into nitric acid (chemosynthesis). 1904 J. McCabe tr. Haeckel's Wonders of Life 222 Pfeffer has called this carbon-assimilation, on account of its purely chemical nature, ‘chemosynthesis’ in opposition to the ordinary photosynthesis by means of sun-light. 1909 R. J. H. Gibson Biol. vi. 48 In all probability the energy required is obtained by the oxidation of primary organic compounds, and possibly of protoplasm itself (chemosynthesis). |
| 1959 Listener 5 Mar. 410/1 These are known as chemosynthetic autotrophs; in other words, bacteria that obtain their energy by oxidizing..inorganic chemicals. |
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Add:
ˌchemoautoˈtrophic a. Bot. [after G.
Chemoautotrophie n. (E. G. Pringsheim 1932, in
Naturwiss. XX. 479/1)], (of micro-organisms or their environment) obtaining the energy needed to sustain autotrophism by chemical means; deriving energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds.
| 1941 Adv. Enzymol. I. 265 Pfeffer later coined the name chemosynthesis for this group of processes for which Pringsheim, more recently, has proposed the term *chemo-autotrophic. 1981 Sci. Amer. Oct. 109/1 Like the free-living bacteria at the vents, the symbiotic ones are chemoautotrophic: they sustain themselves on inorganic substances, and thereby they sustain the worm. |
so
chemoˈautotroph, a chemoautotrophic organism.
| 1943 Physiol. Rev. XXIII. 347 Instead of carrying out a photosynthetic metabolism they now behave as *chemo-autotrophs. 1982 M. J. Dring Biol. Marine Plants ix. 174 The H2S which is released may support a small population of chemoautotrophs throughout the upper part of the sediments. |
ˌchemoautoˈtrophically adv., by chemoautotrophy, in a chemoautotrophic manner.
| 1961 Webster, *Chemoautotrophically. 1979 Nature 27 Sept. 256/1 Thiocapsa can be grown chemoautotrophically in the dark under oxygen. |
ˌchemoautoˈtrophism = *
chemoautotrophy below.
| 1943 Physiol. Rev. XXIII. 340 It would, of course, be possible to re-define *chemo-autotrophism in such a manner that the above difficulty could be avoided. |
chemoˈautotrophy, chemoautotrophic nutrition.
| 1951 J. W. Foster in Werkman & Wilson Bacterial Physiol. 385 (heading) Energetics of *chemoautotrophy. 1987 Sci. Amer. Apr. 89/2 A high ratio of surface area to volume is ideal for the feeding strategies known as photoautotrophy and chemoautotrophy. |
ˌchemoprophyˈlaxis, the prevention of disease by the administration of drugs (
esp. antibiotics).
| 1949 New Gould Med. Dict. 205/2 *Chemoprophylaxis, prevention of disease by the administration of chemical drugs, as sulfanilamide. 1961 Lancet 9 Sept. 589/2 For operative chemoprophylaxis surgeons commonly rely on streptomycin. 1989 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 27 May 1422/1 The two babies with reflux were receiving chemoprophylaxis, and neither had a urinary tract infection. |
hence
ˌchemoprophyˈlactic a.| 1961 Webster, *Chemoprophylactic. 1975 Nature 20 Mar. 169/1 Two trials have also been carried out in India using sulphones for their protective or chemoprophylactic effect by giving them to healthy people. |