| secondary host | <epidemiology> See vector. (05 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| host | An organism that is infected with or is fed upon by a parasitic or pathogenic organism (for example, a virus, nematode, fungus). The term can also be applied, loosely, to a plant supporting an epiphyte. (09 Oct 1997) |
| host cell | A cell which has been infected by a virus is known as the host cell of that virus. A cell which is used in lab techniques such as DNA cloning to receive, maintain, and allow the reproduction of recombinant DNA cloning vectors. The DNA introduced with the vector is replicated whenever the cell divides and the recombinant proteins encoded for by the plasmid are reproduced in large quantities. (13 Nov 1997) |
| host-parasite relations | The interactions between two organisms, one of which lives at the expense of the other. (12 Dec 1998) |
| host range | The range of host species or cell types which a particular virus, bacteria, or parasite is able to infect or parasitise. (09 Oct 1997) |
| host range mutant | A mutant of phage or animal virus that grows normally in one of its host cells, but has lost the ability to grow in cells of a second host type. (18 Nov 1997) |
| host restriction-modification | A bacterial system where the bacterium is able to destroy invading DNA from a bacteriophage (virus which infects bacteria) while at the same time preventing the destruction of their own DNA. The phage DNA is cleaved by a restriction enzyme made by the bacterium, the bacterial DNA is modified (usually with methylation) so that the enzyme will not destroy it. (09 Oct 1997) |
| host versus graft reaction | The normal lymphocyte mediated reactions of a host against allogeneic or xenogeneic cells acquired as a graft or otherwise, which lead to damage or/and destruction of the grafted cells. The opposite of graft-versus-host reaction. The common basis of graft rejection. (18 Nov 1997) |
| host vs graft reaction | The immune responses of a host to a graft. A specific response is graft rejection. (12 Dec 1998) |
| dead-end host | A host from which infectious agents are not transmitted to other susceptible host's. (05 Mar 2000) |
| definitive host | <epidemiology> The host in which a parasite reproduces sexually. (05 Dec 1998) |
| disease, graft-versus-host | A reaction of donated bone marrow against a patient's own tissue. Also called GVHD. (12 Dec 1998) |
| immunocompromised host | A human or animal whose immunologic mechanism is deficient because of an immunodeficiency disorder or other disease or as the result of the administration of immunosuppressive drugs or radiation. (12 Dec 1998) |
| intermediate host | <epidemiology> See vector. (05 Dec 1998) |
| transport host | An intermediate host in which no development of the parasite occurs, although its presence may be required as an essential link in the completion of the parasite's life cycle; e.g., the successive fish host's that carry the plerocercoid of Diphyllobothrium latum, the broad fish tapeworm, to larger food fish eventually eaten by man or other final host's. Synonym: transport host. (05 Mar 2000) |