photoautotroph
Biology
(noun)
an organism that can synthesize its own food by using light as a source of energy
Microbiology
Examples of photoautotroph in the following topics:
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Photoautotrophs and Photoheterotrophs
- Photoautotrophs and photoheterotrophs are organisms that rely on light as their source of energy to carry out cellular processes.
- Photoautotrophs are organisms that carry out photosynthesis.
- Most of the well-recognized phototrophs are autotrophs, also known as photoautotrophs, and can fix carbon.
- Photoautotrophic organisms are sometimes referred to as holophytic.
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Growth Terminology
- Photoautotrophs are a type of autotroph.
- Photoautotrophs use light (sunlight if they are green plants) as their energy source.
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Strategies for Acquiring Energy
- Photosynthetic autotrophs (photoautotrophs) use sunlight as an energy source, whereas chemosynthetic autotrophs (chemoautotrophs) use inorganic molecules as an energy source.
- Photoautotrophs, such as plants, algae, and photosynthetic bacteria, serve as the energy source for a majority of the world's ecosystems.
- Photoautotrophs harness the solar energy of the sun by converting it to chemical energy in the form of ATP (and NADP).
- Distinguish between photoautotrophs and chemoautotrophs and the ways in which they acquire energy
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The Purpose and Process of Photosynthesis
- Because they use light to manufacture their own food, they are called photoautotrophs ("self-feeders using light").
- Photoautotrophs, including (a) plants, (b) algae, and (c) cyanobacteria, synthesize their organic compounds via photosynthesis using sunlight as an energy source.
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Cell Structure, Metabolism, and Motility
- Protists that store energy by photosynthesis belong to a group of photoautotrophs and are characterized by the presence of chloroplasts.
- Some protists function as mixotrophs, obtaining nutrition by photoautotrophic or heterotrophic routes, depending on whether sunlight or organic nutrients are available.
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Bacteroidetes and Chlorobi
- The Phylum Chlorobi are characterized by bacteria that are obligately anaerobic photoautotrophic which includes green sulfur bacteria.
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Main Structures and Summary of Photosynthesis
- Before learning the details of how photoautotrophs convert light energy into chemical energy, it is important to become familiar with the structures involved.
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Chloroflexus and Relatives
- Chloroflexus aurantiacus is thought to grow photoheterotrophically in nature, but it has the capability of fixing inorganic carbon through photoautotrophic growth.
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Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria
- The green sulfur bacteria are a family of obligately anaerobic photoautotrophic bacteria most closely related to the distant Bacteroidetes.
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Energy and Nutrient Requirements for Prokaryotes
- Thus, photoautotrophs use energy from sunlight and carbon from carbon dioxide and water, whereas chemoheterotrophs obtain energy and carbon from an organic chemical source.