Holobiont

[ˈhɑː.lə.ˈbaɪɑnt]

Related terms: Becoming-with, Common, Composition, Gesamtlebewesen (German), Microbial Mats, Organism, Politics of Symbiosis, Symbiogenesis, Symbiosis

»Holobiont« is a scientific term indicating the understanding that all living entities are composed of symbiotic relationships. »Holobiont« also refers to a cast of different, interdependent ecological entities that together live as a whole. The characteristics of a holobiont are unstable; however, there is a constant ongoing negotiation, a kind of transformative conversation between all the entities within the holobiont (microbes, bacteria, viruses, spores, etc.). All species have an integrated lineage of life and survival, a context in which they are becoming-with each other.