Sentence examples for has a defensive function from inspiring English sources
Matrilin has a defensive function in zebra mussel hemocytes upon antigen stimulation [26], and a matrilin-like molecule has been reported from the freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata which confers resistance to infection with the helminth Echinostoma caproni [27].
However, this protein also has a defensive function, having been demonstrated that fibrinogen concentration increases during acute-phase reactions [ 55, 56].
The city's core was bordered on the north side by a 6 m high wall that controlled access from the north and may also have had a defensive function.
Thus, they might also have a defensive function in plant-insect interactions.
This perceived randomness may have a defensive function in itself, and the model predicts that resistance to herbivory is correlated with the amount of phenotypic variability of defense rather than an axis of defense states and corresponding costs.
Although the enlarged gills seem to be a plastic response to the presence of predators in developmental period, they are not likely to have a defensive function, because enlarged gills, by increasing drag, might actually lower escape performance, and, moreover, might increase predation mortality by inviting the predator to attack the vulnerable head.
Because of the complete lack of detectable expression of NCRs in these organs (Additional file 2: Figure S8), they most probably do not have a defensive function in these organs.
It has been suggested that a defensive function may have been linked with Ponter's Ball Dyke, a linear earthwork about 1 km east of the Tor.
The delicately coloured body has bizarre outgrowths, called cerata, which serve a defensive function, discharging nematocysts that the nudibranch has ingested from cnidarian prey.
