Organism

An Organism is a physical living system that possesses biological organization, demonstrates metabolic processes, maintains homeostasis, responds to environmental stimuli, undergoes growth and development, has reproductive capability, and exhibits evolutionary adaptation (embodying properties of life).

• AKA: Physical Living System, Biological Entity, Life Form, Living Being, Biotic System.
• Context:
  • It can typically contain Biological Entitys through organism cells with organism genetic material.
  • It can typically experience Life Span through organism birth process, organism development phases, and organism death event.
  • It can typically inherit from Parent Organism through organism genetic transmission and organism biological reproduction.
  • It can typically maintain Metabolism through organism energy conversion, organism molecule synthesis, and organism waste elimination.
  • It can typically demonstrate Cellular Organization from organism molecular components to organism tissue structures to organism organ systems.
  • It can typically engage in Homeostatic Processes to maintain organism internal environment within organism physiological parameters.
  • ...
  • It can often require Environmental Adaptation through organism morphological change, organism behavioral response, and organism physiological adjustment.
  • It can often undergo Growth Process through organism cellular division, organism tissue expansion, and organism developmental stage.
  • It can often perform Biological Functions through organism metabolic pathways, organism signaling cascades, and organism regulatory networks.
  • It can often respond to Environmental Stimulus through organism sensory mechanisms, organism information processing, and organism adaptive response.
  • It can often participate in Ecological Interactions through organism competitive relationships, organism symbiotic partnerships, and organism predator-prey dynamics.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Living Organism to being a Comatose Organism to being a Dead Organism, depending on its organism life state.
  • It can range from being a Healthy Organism to being a Unhealthy Organism, depending on its organism health condition.
  • It can range from being a Unicellular Organism to being a Multicellular Organism, depending on its organism cellular complexity.
  • It can range from being a Self-Sufficient Organism to being a Dependent Organism, depending on its organism survival capability.
  • It can range from being a Unsentient Organism to being a Sentient Organism, depending on its organism consciousness level.
  • It can range from being a Simple Organism to being a Complex Organism, depending on its organism structural organization.
  • It can range from being a Genetically Identical Organism to being a Genetically Diverse Organism, depending on its organism genetic variation.
  • It can range from being a Short-Lived Organism to being a Long-Lived Organism, depending on its organism lifespan duration.
  • ...
  • It can be in an Organism-to-Organism Relationship through organism ecological interaction, organism reproductive partnership, or organism competitive engagement.
  • It can be a member of an Organism Class through organism taxonomic classification within organism phylogenetic tree.
  • It can be the Referent to an Organism Mention or an Organism Record in organism scientific literature or organism database system.
  • It can Create other Organism Children through organism sexual reproduction, organism asexual reproduction, or organism clonal propagation.
  • It can adjust to its Environment through organism physiological acclimation, organism behavioral modification, and organism evolutionary adaptation.
  • It can transmit Genetic Information through organism vertical gene transfer or organism horizontal gene transfer.
  • It can participate in Biogeochemical Cycles through organism nutrient uptake, organism waste production, and organism decomposition process.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Prokaryotic Organisms, such as:
    • Bacterial Organisms, such as:
      • Escherichia Coli demonstrating organism intestinal colonization and organism fermentation capability.
      • Vibrio Cholerae causing organism pathogenic effects through organism toxin production.
      • Pseudomonas Aeruginosa exhibiting organism metabolic versatility in organism multiple habitats.
      • Streptomyces species producing organism antibiotic compounds through organism secondary metabolism.
      • Cyanobacteria performing organism photosynthetic processes and organism nitrogen fixation.
    • Archaeal Organisms, such as:
      • Methanogen producing organism methane gas in organism anaerobic environments.
      • Thermophilic Archaea surviving in organism extreme temperature conditions.
      • Halophilic Archaea adapting to organism high salinity environments.
  • Eukaryotic Organisms, such as:
    • Protist Organisms, such as:
      • Amoeba demonstrating organism phagocytic feeding.
      • Paramecium utilizing organism ciliary movement.
      • Plasmodium causing organism malarial infection through organism parasitic lifecycle.
      • Diatom creating organism silica-based shell through organism biomineralization.
    • Fungal Organisms, such as:
      • Saccharomyces Cerevisiae enabling organism fermentation processes in organism food production.
      • Penicillium producing organism antibiotic compounds.
      • Agaricus Bisporus forming organism fruiting body for organism spore dispersal.
      • Mycorrhizal Fungus establishing organism plant symbiosis for organism nutrient exchange.
    • Plant Organisms, such as:
      • Arabidopsis Thaliana serving as organism model system for organism plant genetics.
      • Zea Mays demonstrating organism agricultural importance through organism grain production.
      • Sequoia Sempervirens achieving organism exceptional height and organism extended lifespan.
      • Mimosa Pudica exhibiting organism thigmonastic movement in response to organism touch stimulus.
    • Animal Organisms, such as:
      • Invertebrate Animals, such as:
        • Caenorhabditis Elegans serving as organism model system for organism developmental biology.
        • Drosophila Melanogaster enabling organism genetic research through organism short generation time.
        • Octopus Vulgaris demonstrating organism advanced cognition despite organism invertebrate nervous system.
      • Vertebrate Animals, such as:
        • Danio Rerio (zebrafish) utilized for organism developmental study and organism regeneration research.
        • Xenopus Laevis contributing to organism embryological investigation.
        • Mus Musculus enabling organism mammalian research through organism genetic manipulation.
        • Homo Sapiens demonstrating organism cultural transmission, organism linguistic capability, and organism technological creation.
  • Organism Classification Methods, such as:
    • Organism Nutritional Strategy classifications:
      • Autotrophic Organisms synthesizing organism organic compounds from organism inorganic materials.
      • Heterotrophic Organisms requiring organism organic matter consumption for organism energy acquisition.
      • Mixotrophic Organisms employing organism multiple nutrient acquisition strategies.
    • Organism Habitat Type classifications:
      • Terrestrial Organisms adapted to organism land environments.
      • Aquatic Organisms inhabiting organism water ecosystems.
      • Aerial Organisms specialized for organism atmospheric navigation.
      • Subterranean Organisms adapted to organism underground habitats.
    • Organism Ecological Role classifications:
      • Producer Organisms generating organism organic material through organism primary production.
      • Consumer Organisms utilizing organism organic material through organism consumption process.
      • Decomposer Organisms breaking down organism dead matter through organism decomposition process.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Electron, which is a subatomic particle rather than organism living system and lacks organism metabolic processes.
  • Virus, which lacks organism independent metabolism, requires host cell machinery, and exists outside organism taxonomic classification.
  • Prion, which consists only of misfolded protein without organism cellular structure or organism genetic material.
  • Computer Program, which is an artificial system rather than organism biological entity and lacks organism self-maintenance capability.
  • Fire, which demonstrates some reproduction-like spread and consumption-like behavior but lacks organism cellular organization and organism genetic material.
  • Robot, which may perform movement and information processing but lacks organism biological composition and organism self-repair mechanism.
  • Crystal, which can grow and replicate structure but lacks organism metabolic function and organism adaptive capability.
• See: Life, Tree of Life, Biological Classification, Taxonomy, Species Concept, Biogeochemical Cycle, Cellular Biology, Molecular Biology, Evolution, Natural Selection, Genetics, Population Biology, Ecosystem, Biodiversity, NCBI Taxonomy Database, Biology, Living System.

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References

2020

• (Wikipedia, 2020) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/organism Retrieved:2020-5-14.
  • In biology, an organism (from Greek: ὀργανισμός, organismos) is any individual entity that embodies the properties of life. It is a synonym for “life form".

    Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi; or unicellular microorganisms such as protists, bacteria, and archaea. All types of organisms are capable of reproduction, growth and development, maintenance, and some degree of response to stimuli. Humans, squids, mushrooms, and vascular plants are examples of multicellular organisms that differentiate specialized tissues and organs during development. An organism may be either a prokaryote or a eukaryote. Prokaryotes are represented by two separate domains – bacteria and archaea. Eukaryotic organisms are characterized by the presence of a membrane-bound cell nucleus and contain additional membrane-bound compartments called organelles (such as mitochondria in animals and plants and plastids in plants and algae, all generally considered to be derived from endosymbiotic bacteria). Fungi, animals and plants are examples of kingdoms of organisms within the eukaryotes. Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 2 million to 1 trillion, of which over 1.7 million have been documented. More than 99% of all species, amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived are estimated to be extinct. In 2016, a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all organisms was identified.

2020

• https://theguardian.com/science/2020/may/14/live-fast-die-young-study-reveals-why-some-birds-mature-quicker
  • QUOTE: ... All organisms face a trade-off between reproducing and surviving and have adapted to solve this problem in different ways. The team found bird species with a “live fast, die young” strategy develop quicker, allowing them to maximise the number of offspring they can produce in the short time they have available.

    Dr Chris Cooney, the study’s lead author, said: “The amount of time it takes for a fertilised egg to develop into a fully grown adult varies hugely across the animal kingdom. For instance, it takes an elephant almost 10 years to reach independence, whereas a fruit fly is fully grown after only a matter of days.

    “This extraordinary diversity is also encapsulated within birds, where albatrosses can take almost a year to develop from an embryo to an independent adult, but a typical UK garden songbird takes little more than a month. We found that certain aspects of a species’ lifestyle and environment are important in explaining how long they take to develop.”

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