Animals are heterotrophs. The meaning of the word heterotrophs. Heterotrophs: general characteristics

All living things need food and nutrients. 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 organic substances they need, receiving only a source of carbon (CO 2), water (H 2 O) and mineral salts from the environment.

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

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

Chemosynthetics They use energy released during chemical transformations of inorganic compounds to synthesize organic substances.

Chemosynthesis is the formation of organic compounds from inorganic ones due to the energy of redox reactions of nitrogen, iron, and 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 divalent iron to trivalent:

Fe 2 \(→\) Fe 3 \(+\) E ;

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

H 2 S O 2 = 2 H 2 O 2 S E ,

H 2 S O 2 = 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 high-energy 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 wastewater treatment (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 require 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 remains (bacteria of putrefaction, fermentation, lactic acid bacteria, many fungi).

The third group of heterotrophs - Holozoans. 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 methods of nutrition. Such organisms are called mixotrophs. This is, for example, green euglena, which is a phototroph in the light and a heterotroph in the dark.

Some plants, such as the Venus flytrap or sundew, are able to replenish nitrogen deficiency by catching and digesting insects.

All living things on Earth need food in order to survive. Food is not only what people and animals eat, it is also the minerals and nutrients that plants absorb. To say that plants are the primary source of nutrition would be a gross understatement, since they also need to eat to survive. Everything was created by nature in such a way that living beings could coexist harmoniously with each other. In simple terms, autotrophs and heterotrophs are plants and animals that differ in their mode of nutrition.

Autotrophs

Plants eat starch and nutrients that come from soil and sunlight. They do not need to search for food; it will be enough to simply use their own innate abilities and characteristics to obtain the necessary nutrients to ensure growth and development. Autotrophs are plants that get their food from rain, soil and sunlight.

Photosynthesis (use of light) and chemosynthesis (chemical energy) play an important role in supplying cells with nutrients and minerals. During these complex processes, raw nutrients and minerals are converted into specialized cells that absorb sunlight and transform it into energy. Autotrophs are also called producers.

Heterotrophs

Heterotrophs are organisms that are unable to synthesize their own food. This includes animals and humans, that is, consumers who need external sources of food. Producing energy to maintain life and proper functioning of the body requires the absorption and digestion of food. Without these processes, heterotrophs simply could not exist.

Heterotrophs are also called consumers. This includes herbivores (such as cattle, deer, elephants, etc.), carnivores (lion, snakes and sharks, all those that eat other animals), and omnivores (humans). Earthworms that eat the remains of dead plants and animals and fungi are also considered heterotrophs.

Autotrophs, heterotrophs: comparative characteristics

Autotrophs obtain carbon from inorganic sources, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), while heterotrophs obtain their share of carbon from other organisms. Autotrophs are usually plants, heterotrophs are animals. Autotrophs and heterotrophs differ from each other in many respects. Autotrophs create their own nutrition through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis with the help of nonliving components of the ecosystem.

Heterotrophs depend on autotrophs for food. Autotrophs directly depend on energy from the sun and convert inorganic matter into organic matter. Heterotrophs depend on solar energy only indirectly, and acquire organic substances from autotrophs and use them in metabolic processes.

Photosynthesis and chemosynthesis

During photosynthesis, autotrophs use energy from the sun to convert water from the soil and carbon dioxide from the air into glucose. The latter provides energy and is used to create cellulose (which is essential for the construction of cell membranes), for example by plants, algae, phytoplankton and some bacteria. Carnivorous plants use photosynthesis to produce energy but also depend on other organisms for nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Therefore, these plants are also considered autotrophs.

Chemotrophs use the energy produced by chemical reactions to produce food. Most often, hydrogen sulfide (methane with oxygen) reacts. Carbon dioxide is the main source of carbon for chemotrophs. Examples include bacteria found in active volcanoes, thermal springs, geysers and on the seabed. These organisms survive in the most extreme conditions.

Food chain

Autotrophs do not depend on other organisms; they themselves are the main producer and occupy the initial level of the food chain. Herbivores that feed on autotrophs occupy the second trophic level. Next are omnivorous and carnivorous heterotrophs. Finally, at the top of the food chain there is a person who uses both the first and the second for food.

Biological organisms, autotrophs and heterotrophs, are two types of biotic components of an ecosystem that interact with each other. All living organisms can be classified as autotrophs or heterotrophs. In an ecosystem, the flow of energy from one organism to another is described by the concept of a food chain. Each organism, dependent on the next organism for food, forms a linear sequence through which energy passes from one organism to another. Simply put, the food chain shows who eats whom.

Autotrophs, heterotrophs, chemotrophs: role in the ecosystem

All food chains begin at the producer level. Primary consumers eat producers for energy. Primary consumers are eaten by secondary consumers; secondary consumers are eaten by tertiary consumers and so on.

A common example to explain the concept of a food chain is an ecosystem where grass is the producer and the mouse that eats the grass becomes the main consumer. The mouse turns out to be prey for the snake, which becomes a secondary consumer. Eagles eat snakes and become tertiary consumers.

The role of heterotrophs and autotrophs, as well as chemotrophs in nature cannot be overestimated. Dead animals decompose and thus return nutrients back to the soil. This cycle of nutrient flow from one level to the next is repeated periodically between the biotic and nonliving components of the ecosystem.

Despite many differences, autotrophs and heterotrophs are directly dependent on each other. For survival in the global sense of the word, they simply need each other, since they are one of the most important components of the ecosystem, although in theory chemotrophs and autotrophs could exist without heterotrophs, the latter cannot live without someone else’s vital energy.

To designate such organisms, other terms are sometimes used, which, however, mean the same thing - saprophytes (saprophytic nutrition) and saprobionts (saprobiontic nutrition). Many fungi and bacteria are saprotrophs, such as Mucor fungi, Rhizppus fungi and yeasts. To digest food, saprotrophs secrete enzymes into their food and then absorb and assimilate the products of this extracellular digestion.

Saprotrophs destroy organic residues by decomposing them. Many of the simple substances formed are not used by the saprotrophs themselves, so they are consumed by plants. Hence, the activity of saprophytes provides very important connections between the cycles of nutrients, making it possible to return these elements to living organisms.

The third group of heterotrophs - Holozoans. 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.
However, the ways of converting food into a form convenient for absorption in many organisms are similar and consist of the following processes:

  1. Swallowing, which ensures the capture of food.
  2. Digestion- This is the breakdown of large organic molecules into smaller ones that are more easily soluble in water. Digestion can be divided into two stages. Mechanical digestion, or mechanical destruction of food, such as by teeth. Chemical Digestion is digestion with the help of enzymes. Reactions that carry out chemical digestion are called hydrolytic. Digestion can be either extracellular (occurs outside the cell) or intracellular (occurs inside the cell).
  3. Suction represents the transfer of soluble molecules obtained as a result of the breakdown of nutrients across the membrane into the corresponding tissues. These substances can enter either directly into cells, or first into the bloodstream, and only then transferred to different organs.
  4. Assimilation (assimilation)- is the use of absorbed molecules to provide energy or substances to all tissues and organs.
  5. Excretion– evacuation of undigested food residues from the body and removal of final metabolic products.

Mutualism

Mutualism is a close relationship between two living organisms of different species, mutually beneficial for both “partners”. For example, the sea anemone Calliactis attaches itself to the shell in which the hermit crab lives. Sea anemone feeds on the leftover food of the hermit crab and “travels” with it. At the same time, the sea anemone camouflages the crayfish’s home and provides its protection with the help of stinging cells located in the tentacles. Apparently, an anemone cannot exist without attaching itself to the shell of a hermit crab, but even if the hermit crab suddenly leaves it, it begins to look for another one, which it will transfer to its shell.

Herbivorous ruminants contain in their digestive tract a great variety of bacteria and ciliated ciliates that digest cellulose. These microscopic organisms are able to survive only in the anaerobic conditions of the digestive tract of ruminants. Here, bacteria and ciliates feed on cellulose, which is contained in large quantities in the host’s food, transforming it into simpler compounds that ruminants are already able to further digest and assimilate. An important example of mutualism is the formation of root nodules by the bacterium Rhizobium. Other examples are mycorrhiza and endosymbiosis.

Blurred Boundaries

It is interesting that there is no clear boundary between different categories of organisms, because all living things constantly adapt 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, for example, the Venus flytrap. This plant produces organic matter through photosynthesis, but receives some of its nutrients from the bodies of insects, which it successfully lures into special traps.

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

Definitions of heterotrophs in scientific literature

  • Heterotrophs are organisms that are unable to synthesize the complex organic substances of their bodies from simple inorganic compounds. They extract from the external environment and consume prepared food. Their source of nutrition is the living and dead mass of different types of organisms and their metabolic products. Heterotrophs include animals, fungi, actinomycetes, some types of bacteria and algae, and non-chlorophyll higher plants. Agricultural mammals and birds are heterotrophs.
  • Heterotrophs are organisms that use organic substances produced by other living organisms for nutrition and are not capable of synthesizing organic substances from inorganic ones.
  • Heterotrophs - decompose organic matter to carbon dioxide, water, mineral salts and return them to the environment. This ensures the circulation of substances, which arose in the process of evolution as a necessary condition for the existence of life. In this case, the light energy of the sun is transformed by living organisms into other forms of energy - chemical, mechanical, thermal.
  • Heterotrophs (from hetero... and Greek - nutrition) are organisms that use organic substances produced by autotrophs as a source of nutrition. These include all animals (including humans), fungi and most microorganisms. In the food chain of ecosystems they form a group of consumers.
  • Heterotrophs (feeding on others) are organisms that consume ready-made organic matter from other organisms and their metabolic products. These are all animals, fungi and most bacteria.
  • Heterotrophs (from the Greek geteg - other) are organisms that require organic matter formed by other organisms for their nutrition. Heterotrophs are capable of decomposing all substances formed by autotrophs, and many of those synthesized by humans.
  • Heterotrophs consume either living or dead tissues of other organisms. This organic matter provides chemical energy to heterotrophic organisms to carry out secondary photosynthesis reactions.
  • Heterotrophs (from the Greek heteros - other) are organisms that use other people's bodies (living or dead) for their nutrition, that is, ready-made organic substances. It is obvious that the life activity of heterotrophs is completely determined by the synthetic activity of autotrophs.

Encyclopedia Biology. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what HETEROTROPHES are in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

  • HETEROTROPHS
    (from hetero... and Greek trophe - food) (heterotrophic organisms) use ready-made organic substances for their nutrition. Heterotrophs include humans...
  • HETEROTROPHS in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  • HETEROTROPHS in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (from hetero... and Greek trophe - food) (heterotrophic organisms) use ready-made organic substances for their nutrition. Heterotrophs include humans...
  • HETEROTROPHS in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    HETEROTROPHS (from hetero... and Greek trophe - food) (heterotrophic organisms), use ready-made organics for their nutrition. in-va. K G. ...
  • HETEROTROPHS in Lopatin’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  • HETEROTROPHS in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
    heterotrophs, -s, unit-trophs, ...
  • HETEROTROPHS in the Spelling Dictionary:
    heterotrophs, -ov, units. -tr'of, ...
  • HETEROTROPHS in the Modern Explanatory Dictionary, TSB:
    (from hetero... and Greek trophe - food) (heterotrophic organisms) use ready-made organic substances for their nutrition. Heterotrophs include...
  • PLANT NUTRITION in the Encyclopedia Biology:
    , absorption (assimilation) by plants of nutrients coming from the external environment; basis of metabolism. Sources of nutrients for plants are...
  • ANIMALS in the Encyclopedia Biology:
    , organisms that make up one of the kingdoms of living nature; unlike plants, they use ready-made organic compounds for food (see heterotrophs...
  • IRON BACTERIA in the Encyclopedia Biology:
    , a collective group of microorganisms capable of both oxidizing divalent iron compounds into ferric iron and depositing them on the surface and inside cells...
  • SEAWEED in the Encyclopedia Biology:
    , a large group of photosynthetic organisms, sometimes classified as a special kingdom of plants. Includes 12 divisions (blue-green algae, brown algae, green algae, ...
  • BACTERIA in the Encyclopedia Biology:
    , microscopic, usually unicellular organisms, which are characterized by the absence of a formed nucleus (see prokaryotes). Distributed everywhere: in soil, water, air, ...
  • SAPROPHYTES in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (from the Greek sapros - rotten and phyton - plant) plants, fungi and bacteria that feed on the organic matter of dead organisms. Heterotrophs. Decompose...
  • GOLDEN ALGAE in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    department of algae of golden yellow color. Unicellular, colonial, rarely multicellular organisms. Autotrophs, less often heterotrophs. Reproduction is mainly by division in two and zoospores. Meet...
  • ANIMALS in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    organisms that make up one of the kingdoms of the organic world. The general properties of animals and plants (cellular structure, metabolism) are due to the unity of their origin. ...
  • BACTERIA in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (from the Greek bakterion - stick) a group of microscopic, predominantly unicellular organisms. They belong to the “pre-nuclear” forms - prokaryotes. The basis of the modern classification...
  • AUTOTROPHES in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
    (from auto... and Greek trophe - food food) (autotrophic organisms), organisms synthesizing from inorganic substances (mainly water, carbon dioxide, ...
  • PHOTOSYNTHESIS BACTERIA
    bacteria, phototrophic bacteria, microorganisms that use light (radiant energy) as energy for life; in the process of photosynthesis they assimilate carbon dioxide, etc. ...
  • SYSTEM OF THE ORGANIC WORLD in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
    organic world. The world of living beings has about 2 million species. All this diversity of organisms is studied by taxonomy, the main task of which is...
  • PROTISTOLOGY in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
    (from protists and...logy), a science that studies single-celled eukaryotic organisms belonging to the type of protozoa. The volume and content of P. are interpreted ...
  • SOIL MICROORGANISMS in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
    microorganisms, a collection of different groups of microorganisms for which soil is their natural habitat. P. m. play an important role in ...

HETEROTROPHS

HETEROTROPHS, organisms that use ready-made organic matter (usually plant or animal tissue) for their nutrition through a process known as heterotrophic nutrition. All animals and fungi are heterotrophs. The digestive process (as in humans) breaks down tissue, 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 nutrition; 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 source of nutrition. 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. Paffengoltz et al. 1978 ... Geological encyclopedia

    heterotrophs- - organisms that use ready-made organic compounds as a food source... A brief dictionary of biochemical terms

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

    Heterotrophs (ancient Greek: ἕτερος “different”, “different” and τροφή “food”) are organisms that are not capable of synthesizing organic substances from inorganic ones by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. To synthesize what is necessary for your... ... Wikipedia

    Organisms that exist through the use of ready-made organic substances synthesized by autotrophs. These substances, decomposing into simpler compounds, provide heterotrophs with both material for building the 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 cyanoprokaryotes flora of the Murmansk region was determined for the first time. An annotated list has been compiled, numbering 229 species, which belong to 65 genera, 19 families, 4 orders.…

Publications on the topic