totipotence

9.9

Ability of a single cell to become all different body cells or a whole living thing

noun
/ˌtoʊtɪˈpoʊtəns/

Specialized

: totipotencia

The totipotence of a fertilized egg allows it to develop into a complete organism.

Examples

Researchers studied the totipotence of certain plant cells to regenerate whole plants.
Loss of totipotence in animal cells marks a key step in embryonic differentiation.
The concept of totipotence is crucial in developmental biology.
Can you explain totipotence to me?
The totipotence of a fertilized egg allows it to develop into a complete organism.
Researchers studied the totipotence of certain plant cells to regenerate whole plants.
Loss of totipotence in animal cells marks a key step in embryonic differentiation.

Synonyms

totipotency

vstotipotence

Specialized

1 9.9

The ability of a single cell to become a whole animal or plant, including any type of body cell

is the general ability to become all cell types or a complete organism

How Potent

totipotence

Specialized

9.9

pluripotent

Specialized

1 8.9

multipotent

Specialized

1 9.5

Surface Forms

totipotence singular

totipotences plural

Morphology

totipotence = totipotent (semi-transparent) = toti + potent + ence

Formed from the adjective 'totipotent' plus the nominalizing suffix '-ence'; the combining form 'toti-' and the technical biological sense may be unfamiliar to a general B1 learner.

Etymology

Totipotence comes from the parts tot- ('whole') and potent ('power'), the same idea you see in the word total. So, totipotence is the 'power' of a single cell to become a 'whole' organism or to make every cell type.