used of cultures of microorganisms; not contaminated by or completely free of the presence of other organisms; "an axenic culture"
Completely germ free. An axenic rat in an isolator would be one that is free of all other microorganisms.
Describes a culture containing a single type of cell.
Free from associated organisms.
Free of foreign organisms; germ-free.
In biology, axenic describes a microbial culture of a particular organism (usually bacteria or unicellular eukaryote) that is entirely free of all other "contaminating" organisms. Axenic cultures are useful because all of the organisms present within them are identical or share the same gene pool. Consequently they will generally respond in a reproducible fashion, simplifying the interpretation of experiments.