Examples of autotroph in the following topics:
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- Autotrophs (producers) synthesize their own energy, creating organic materials that are utilized as fuel by heterotrophs (consumers).
- Photosynthetic autotrophs (photoautotrophs) use sunlight as an energy source, whereas chemosynthetic autotrophs (chemoautotrophs) use inorganic molecules as an energy source.
- Autotrophs act as producers and are critical for all ecosystems.
- Heterotrophs function as consumers in the food chain; they obtain energy in the form of organic carbon by eating autotrophs or other heterotrophs.
- Unlike autotrophs, heterotrophs are unable to synthesize their own food.
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- A good example of this connection is the exchange of carbon between autotrophs and heterotrophs.
- Carbon dioxide is the basic building block that most autotrophs use to build multi-carbon, high-energy compounds, such as glucose.
- Most terrestrial autotrophs obtain their carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, while marine autotrophs acquire it in the dissolved form (carbonic acid, H2CO3−).
- Heterotrophs acquire the high-energy carbon compounds from the autotrophs by consuming them and breaking them down by respiration to obtain cellular energy, such as ATP.
- Thus, there is a constant exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the autotrophs (which need the carbon) and the heterotrophs (which need the oxygen).
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- In multicellular autotrophs, the main cellular structures that allow photosynthesis to take place include chloroplasts, thylakoids, and chlorophyll.
- In all autotrophic eukaryotes, photosynthesis takes place inside an organelle called a chloroplast.
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- Recall that organisms that are able to fix inorganic carbon are called autotrophs.
- Autotrophic prokaryotes synthesize organic molecules from carbon dioxide.
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- The organisms responsible for primary production, known as primary producers or autotrophs, form the base of the food chain.
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- Euglenozoans includes parasites, heterotrophs, autotrophs, and mixotrophs, ranging in size from 10 to 500 µm.
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- This feature distinguishes them from autotrophic organisms, such as most plants, which synthesize their own nutrients through photosynthesis.
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- Gymnosperms are seed plants adapted to life on land; thus, they are autotrophic, photosynthetic organisms that tend to conserve water.
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- This is a major difference between plants and animals; plants (autotrophs) are able to make their own food, like sugars, while animals (heterotrophs) must ingest their food.
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- The algal partner (phyco- or photobiont) makes food autotrophically, some of which it shares with the fungus; the fungal partner (mycobiont) absorbs water and minerals from the environment, which are made available to the green alga.