All living beings need food and nutrients Oh. According to the method of obtaining organic substances necessary for life, all cells (and living organisms) are divided into two large groups: autotrophs and heterotrophs.

Autotrophic organisms

Autotrophic organisms are able to independently synthesize the necessary organic matter, receiving from the environment only a source of carbon (CO 2), water (H 2 O) and mineral salts.

Autotrophs are divided into two groups: photosynthetics ( phototrophs) and chemosynthetics ( chemotrophs).

For photosynthetics The source of energy for biosynthetic reactions is sunlight. Phototrophs include green plant cells containing chlorophyll and bacteria capable of photosynthesis (for example, cyanobacteria).

Chemosynthetics use for the synthesis of organic substances the energy released during the chemical transformations of inorganic compounds.

Chemosynthesis - the formation of organic compounds from inorganic ones due to the energy of redox reactions of nitrogen, iron, sulfur compounds.

Chemosynthetics are the only organisms on Earth that do not depend on the energy of sunlight. These include some types of bacteria:

iron bacteria oxidize ferrous iron to trivalent:

Fe 2 \(→\) Fe 3 \(+\) E ;

sulfur bacteria oxidize hydrogen sulfide to molecular sulfur or to salts of sulfuric acid:

H 2 S O 2 \u003d 2 H 2 O 2 S E,

H 2 S O 2 \u003d 2 H 2 S O 4 E;

nitrifying bacteria oxidize ammonia to nitrous and nitric acids, which, interacting with soil minerals, form nitrites and nitrates:

NH 3 \(→\) HNO 2 \(→\) HNO 3 \(+\) E .

The energy released in the oxidation reactions of inorganic compounds is converted into the energy of macroergic bonds of ATP and only then is spent on the synthesis of organic compounds.

The role of chemosynthetics is great, since they are an indispensable link in the natural cycles of the most important elements: sulfur, nitrogen, iron, etc. They destroy rocks, participate in the formation of minerals, and are used in cleaning Wastewater(sulfur bacteria). Nitrifying bacteria enrich the soil with nitrites and nitrates, in the form of which nitrogen is absorbed by plants.

heterotrophic organisms

Heterotrophic organisms cannot independently synthesize organic substances from inorganic compounds and need their constant absorption from the outside. Eating food of plant and animal origin, they use the energy stored in organic compounds and build their own proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and other biopolymers from the resulting substances.

Heterotrophs include animals, fungi, and many bacteria.

Saprophytes(saprotrophs) feed on dead organic residues (bacteria of decay, fermentation, lactic acid bacteria, many fungi).

The third group of heterotrophs - Holozoic. Holozoic nutrition includes three stages: eating, digestion and absorption of digested substances. It is more often observed in multicellular animals that have a digestive system. Holozoic feeding animals can be divided into carnivores , herbivores And omnivores .

Mixotrophic organisms

There are also organisms that can use both autotrophic and heterotrophic modes of nutrition. Such organisms are called mixotrophs. This, for example, is green euglena, which is a phototroph in the light, and a heterotroph in the dark.

Some plants, such as the Venus flytrap or the sundew, can replenish nitrogen by catching and digesting insects.

heterotrophs

heterotrophs, organisms that use ready-made organic matter (usually plant or animal tissues) for their nutrition through a process known as heterotrophic nutrition. All animals and fungi are heterotrophs. As a result of the digestive process (as in humans) tissue is broken down, providing the body with material from which it can synthesize essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.

Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary.

See what "HETEROTROPHES" are in other dictionaries:

Organisms that use organic matter for food; in the narrow sense of the word, organisms that use organic compounds as a source of carbon. Wed autotrophs. (Source: "Microbiology: a dictionary of terms", Firsov N.N., M: Bustard, ... ... Dictionary of microbiology

- [from hetero... and... troph(s)], organisms that use organic substances produced by other organisms as a food source. Heterotrophs include humans, all animals, some plants, most bacteria, and fungi. In food... Ecological dictionary

- (from hetero... and Greek trophe food) (heterotrophic organisms), use ready-made organic substances for their nutrition. Heterotrophs include humans, all animals, some plants, most bacteria, and fungi. Compare Autotrophs... Modern Encyclopedia

- (from hetero... and Greek trophe food) (heterotrophic organisms) use ready-made organic substances for their nutrition. Heterotrophs include humans, all animals, some plants, most bacteria, and fungi. Wed Autotrophs... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

Abbr. name heterotrophic organisms. Geological dictionary: in 2 volumes. M.: Nedra. Edited by K. N. Paffengolts et al. 1978 ... Geological Encyclopedia

heterotrophs- - organisms that use ready-made organic compounds as a food source ... Concise Dictionary of Biochemical Terms

Organisms that use organic matter of plant or animal origin (living or dead) for nutrition. D. These are consumers and decomposers of ecosystems (animals, bacteria, fungi) Dictionary of business terms. Akademik.ru. 2001 ... Glossary of business terms

Heterotrophs (other Greek ἕτερος “other”, “different” and τροφή “food”) are organisms that are not able to synthesize organic substances from inorganic ones, by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. For the synthesis of the necessary for their ... ... Wikipedia

Organisms that exist through the use of ready-made organic substances synthesized by autotrophs. These substances, decomposing to simpler compounds, give heterotrophs both material for building a body and energy for life ... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

- (from hetero... and Greek trophé food) (heterotrophic organisms), use ready-made organic substances for their nutrition. Heterotrophs include humans, all animals, some plants, most bacteria, and fungi. Wed Autotrophs. * * *… … encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

Cyanoprokaryotes and their role in the process of nitrogen fixation in terrestrial ecosystems of the Murmansk region, Davydov D.A. The composition of the flora of cyanoprokaryotes of the Murmansk region was determined for the first time. An annotated list has been compiled, with 229 species that belong to 65 genera, 19 families, 4 orders. ...

Encyclopedia Biology. 2012

The meaning of the word heterotrophs

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

heterotrophs

HETEROTROPHS (from hetero... and Greek trophe - food) (heterotrophic organisms) use ready-made organic substances for their nutrition. Heterotrophs include humans, all animals, some plants, most bacteria, and fungi. Wed Autotrophs.

Wikipedia

Heterotrophs

Heterotrophs- organisms that are not capable of synthesizing organic substances from inorganic substances by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. For the synthesis of organic substances necessary for their life activity, they require exogenous organic substances, that is, produced by other organisms. During digestion, digestive enzymes break down the polymers of organic matter into monomers. In communities, heterotrophs are consumers of various orders and decomposers. Almost all animals and some plants are heterotrophs. According to the method of obtaining food, they are divided into two opposing groups: holozoic and holophytic or osmotrophic (bacteria, many protists, fungi, plants).

Heterotrophic plants are completely (broomrape, rafflesia) or almost completely (dodder) devoid of chlorophyll and feed by growing into the body of the host plant.

The boundary between autotrophs and heterotrophs is rather arbitrary, since there are many species that have a transitional form of nutrition - mixotrophy, or use the most convenient type of nutrition under given conditions.

Heterotrophs are subdivided according to the way they absorb food into phagotrophs and osmotrophs. According to the type of food received, they are divided into biotrophs and saprotrophs.

In science, a lot of various classifications are used. You probably know that there are living and non-living things, that all creatures are divided into microorganisms, plants, animals and fungi, that animals are predators and herbivores, etc.

Did you know that biologists divide all living organisms into heterotrophs and autotrophs? How are these organisms different and what justifies their presence on Earth?

Autotrophs are the first in the chain

Word "autotroph" is of Greek origin and consists of two roots - "auto" — myself , And "trophy" — nutrition . Autotrophs are organisms that can consume inorganic substances from the environment and, using them, to synthesize complex organic compounds.

Autotrophs are located on the first step of the food chain. They are the source of the organic matter that makes up all life on Earth. Autotrophs include plants, algae, and some bacteria. The energy necessary for the synthesis of organic matter, autotrophs receive either from the Sun (the process of photosynthesis) or from chemical reactions.

Heterotrophs - eat what is "cooked"

Let's say right away that we humans are precisely heterotrophic organisms. Word "heterotroph" formed from two ancient Greek roots - "heteros" — "another" , And "trophy" — "nutrition" . The name can be deciphered as follows: heterotrophs are creatures that eat what others have prepared.

Indeed, heterotrophic organisms are capable of assimilating only organic substances. They cannot independently synthesize organic matter in their body, therefore they eat other organisms or their metabolic products (decay). Digestion of heterotrophs is arranged as follows: they consume organic substances and break them down with the help of special enzymes.

decomposers similar to consumers in that for their existence they need organics synthesized by other organisms (that is, they are heterotrophs). The cardinal difference between decomposers is the ability of these creatures to process the decomposition products of other organisms and transform them into inorganic compounds.

This is the most important role of decomposers in the ecological system. After all, if the remains of all dead organisms were preserved on the surface of the Earth and did not collapse to an inorganic state, then the plants would not receive nutrition and life would be impossible. Decomposers include bacteria and fungi.

Blurred borders

It is interesting that there is no clear boundary between different categories of organisms, because all living things are constantly adapting to the conditions of existence, developing new, sometimes completely incredible survival mechanisms. There is a large group of mixotrophs that occupy an intermediate position between heterotrophs and autotrophs.

These include, in particular, insectivorous plants, such as the Venus flytrap. This plant forms organic matter through photosynthesis, but receives some of the nutrients from the bodies of insects, which it successfully lures into special traps.

Well, to some extent, all living beings can be considered decomposers, because in the process of life, all living things emit water, carbon dioxide and the simplest organic compounds, that is, they participate in the process of decomposition of organic matter.

The story of heterotrophs and autotrophs once again shows how complex and interesting life is and how carefully a person should treat it.

What are heterotrophs a brief definition. What are heterotrophs and autotrophs in biology? Heterotrophs: general characteristics