1. relating to or involving symbiosis in which one organism lives inside the cells or body of another organism
Usage: biology; scientific
2. of or relating to the theory that eukaryotic organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts originated from free-living prokaryotic cells that were engulfed by ancestral eukaryotic cells
Usage: biology; evolutionary biology

Examples

• The endosymbiotic relationship between the host cell and the mitochondrion is essential for energy production.
• Scientists support the endosymbiotic theory to explain the origin of chloroplasts in plant cells.
• Endosymbiotic bacteria live within the cells of their hosts and provide nutrients in exchange for protection.
• The endosymbiotic hypothesis suggests that eukaryotes evolved through the incorporation of prokaryotic cells.
• Many organisms depend on endosymbiotic microorganisms for survival and metabolic functions.
• The endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria is now widely accepted in modern biology.