peroxisome

[ puh-rok-suh-sohm ]

noun

, Cell Biology.

1. a cell organelle containing catalase, peroxidase, and other oxidative enzymes and performing essential metabolic functions, as the decomposition of fatty acids and hydrogen peroxide.

peroxisome

/ pəˈrɒksɪˌsəʊm /

noun

1. a type of organelle present in most eukaryotic cells that carry out oxidative reactions, such as oxidation of alcohol in the liver

peroxisome

/ pə-rŏk′sĭ-sōm′ /

1. A cell organelle containing enzymes that catalyze the production and breakdown of hydrogen peroxide.

Other Words From

• per·oxi·somal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of peroxisome¹

First recorded in 1965–70; perox(ide) + -some ³

Example Sentences

"The atomic structures and an understanding of the mechanism of this complex nanomachine now enable us to understand important steps in peroxisome physiology in health and disease," says Gatsogiannis in conclusion.

From Science Daily

In module II, putrescine is converted to tropine — the functional core that gives tropane alkaloids their name — through several cytosolic reactions, in addition to one catalysed in the peroxisome and another catalysed by an enzyme anchored to the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum.

From Nature

High CO2 levels can stimulate photosynthesis and depress photorespiration; changes in the photosynthesis:respiration ratio have a wide-ranging impact on cellular redox balance, because photorespiration generates a molecule of H2O2 in one organelle, the peroxisome, for every oxygen molecule assimilated in another organelle, the chloroplast, during photosynthesis.

From Nature

Alternative splicing has recently been shown to mediate dual targeting of glycolytic enzymes to the cytosol and peroxisome in fungi.

From Nature

But de Duve’s 1974 Nobel was for his six-decade-old discoveries of theretofore entirely unknown cell organelles, the lysosome and the peroxisome.

From Scientific American