Taxis

directed movement of a motile cell or organism in response to an external stimulus From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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A taxis (plural taxes) is an innate behavioral response by an organism to a directional stimulus. This means the organism automatically moves towards or away from the stimulus.

A taxis differs from a tropism (turning response, often plant growth towards or away from a stimulus) in that the organism has motility and shows movement towards or away from the stimulus source.[1][2]

  • Phototaxis: movement, usually towards light. Shown by many organisms, such as many flying insects.
  • Chemotaxis: movement towards desirable chemicals, and away from unpleasant ones.

Even single-celled organisms can show taxis.

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