noun
- A chemical substance secreted by slime mold cells that attracts other cells of the same organism, causing them to aggregate.
Usage: biology; technical
Examples
- Acrasin is released by starving slime mold cells to signal nearby cells to gather together.
- The discovery of acrasin helped scientists understand how single-celled organisms communicate and coordinate behavior.
- Researchers studied acrasin to learn more about cell signaling in primitive organisms.
- Acrasin acts as a chemical messenger in the life cycle of Dictyostelium discoideum.