Gases are constantly consumed and produced by cellular and metabolic reactions in most living things, so an efficient system for gas exchange between, ultimately, the interior of the cell(s) and the external environment is required. Small, particularly unicellular organisms, such as bacteria and protozoa, have a high surface-area to volume ratio.
Polyploid. (genetics) an organism or cell having more than twice the haploid number of chromosomes.Of a cell or organism having more than twice the haploid number of chromosomes; a polyploid cell; a polyploid species .Organisms that possess two sets of each chromosome.
Written By: Multicellular organism, an organism composed of many cells, which are to varying degrees integrated and independent. The development of multicellular organisms is accompanied by cellular specialization and division of labour; cells become efficient in one process and are dependent upon other cells for the necessities of life. The nematode Ascaris lumbricoides is a multicellular organism. Javier Palaus Soler/Ostman Agency Specialization in single-celled organisms exists at the subcellular level; i.e., the basic functions that are divided among the cells, tissues, and organs of the multicellular organism are collected within one cell.