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Having, or consisting of, but a single cell; as, a unicellular organism.

A soft, downy substance, resembling fine wool, consisting of the unicellular twisted hairs which grow on the seeds of the cotton plant. Long-staple cotton has a fiber sometimes almost two inches long; short-staple, from two thirds of an inch to an inch and a half.

A microscopic plant of the family Desmidiæ, a group of unicellular algæ in which the species have a greenish color, and the cells generally appear as if they consisted of two coalescing halves.

One of the Diatomaceæ, a family of minute unicellular Algæ having a siliceous covering of great delicacy, each individual multiplying by spontaneous division. By some authors diatoms are called Bacillariæ, but this word is not in general use.

The semisolid external layer of protoplasm in some unicellular organisms, as the amoeba; ectoplasm; exoplasm.

The semifluid, granular interior of certain unicellular organisms, as the inner layer of sarcode in the amoeba; entoplasm; endoplasta.

A method of asexual reproduction among the lowest (unicellular) organisms by means of a process of self-division, consisting of gradual division or cleavage of the into two parts, each of which then becomes a separate and independent organisms; as when a cell in an animal or plant, or its germ, undergoes a spontaneous…

A cyst in which some unicellular organisms temporarily inclose themselves, from which they emerge unchanged, after a period of drought or deficiency of food. In some instances, a process of spore formation seems to occur within such cysts.

A very minute plant, one of certain unicellular algæ, such as the germs of various infectious diseases are believed to be.

A genus of minute unicellular algæ including the red snow plant (Protococcus nivalis).

Any unicellular plant, or plant forming only a plasmodium, having reproduction only by fission, gemmation, or cell division.

Any protoplasmic filament or irregular process projecting from any unicellular organism, or from any animal or plant call.

of structure, as the radiate, articulate, etc., characteristic of organic nature; as, all unicellular organisms are systemless.

e algæ, fungi, and lichens. The simpler forms, as many blue-green algæ, yeasts, etc., are unicellular and reproduce vegetatively or by means of asexual spores; in the higher forms the plant body is a thallus, which may be filamentous or may consist of plates of cells; it is commonly undifferentiated into stem, leaves,…

A prefix signifying one, once; as in uniaxial, unicellular.

Unicellular.

evelopment which takes place primarily around a single central point, as in the lowest of unicellular organisms.

, not adapted, or set apart, for any particular purpose or function; as, an unspecialized unicellular organism. W. K. Brooks.

A genus of minute unicellular algæ of the desmids. These algæ have a rounded shape and are armed with glochidiate or branched aculei. Several species occur in ditches, and others are found fossil in flint or hornstone.

A cyst formed by certain Protozoa and unicellular plants which the contents divide into a large number of granules, each of which becomes a germ.