Autotrophic organisms

An autotrophic organism, within the branch of ecology , is an organism that serves as a primary producer within a food chain . The autotrophic organisms derive their energy and nutrients through the use of sunlight and do through photosynthesis , so they are also called photoautotrophs , and in some rare cases, obtain chemical energy by oxidation and are called chemo autotrophs to produce organic substances from inorganic substances. Autotrophs do not consume other organisms; however, they are consumed by heterotrophs .

Characteristics of autotrophic organisms

The main characteristics of autotrophic organisms are the following:

• They are generally organisms of plant origin and some bacteria .
• Its color is greenish , although some may have a reddish color .
• They are producing organisms .
• They are autotrophic photoliths because their transformation occurs during photosynthesis .
• They are essential for feeding heterotrophic organisms .
• Their nutrition is autotrophic since they make their own food.
• They contain carbon , which is essential for their functions.
• They can convert physical and chemical energy into carbohydrates.
• They only need water , carbon dioxide and inorganic salts to live.
• They are divided into photosynthetic and chemosynthetic .
• They do not need other living beings to feed themselves.
• They can live in the aquatic environment as well as in the terrestrial one .
• Its cells contain chloroplasts .
• They execute anabolic reactions .

Source

The earliest living things on Earth were similar to the most primitive single-celled organisms like bacteria and blue-green algae , but they were heterotrophic. These substances, associated with the interior of the first cells , were used to obtain energy through anaerobic fermentation . They were also capable of fermenting many types of carbohydrates.

He process of biological evolution , and bacteria emerged capable of incorporating the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to compounds reduced metabolic origin by using the acid atmospheric hydrogen using photosynthetic processes primitives.

Then there were types of bacteria that used sulfate molecules, much more energetic, that released hydrogen sulfide as a by-product. These were the first autotrophs , since there were no other microorganisms from which to obtain energy.

What are autotrophic organisms

Autotrophic organisms are beings that have the ability to produce their own food . They can take inorganic substances from their own bodies to transform them into food. They are made up of a large group of vegetables , plants, and some types of bacteria that live in photic environments .

Classification

Autotrophic organisms are classified into two types:

• Photoautotrophs : are all organisms that depend on energy to create the process of photosynthesis .
• Chemo autotrophs : they are organisms that are responsible for increasing chemical or oxidation reactions to obtain energy and grow in mineral environments of complete darkness .

Nutrition

The term autotroph is made up of two words ” auto ” and ” troph “. Self word means in itself same and the word troph means nutrition . So, in autotrophic nutrition, food is manufactured by the same body in the presence of sunlight by taking raw materials such as carbon dioxide or water from the environment. All green plants, blue-green algae, and autotrophic bacteria have autotrophic mode of nutrition.

These organisms contain a green coloring pigment known as chlorophyll that is capable of trapping solar energy . This solar energy is then used by plants to synthesize food in the form of starch by combining carbon dioxide and water extracted from the environment through the process of photosynthesis .

Importance of autotrophic organisms

The importance and role of autotrophic organisms in the development and stability of life on the planet is of utmost importance. It is for this reason that it is so important to take care of the environment and keep the green areas of the planet intact in order to ensure a long existence for the Earth.

Because autotrophic organisms have the ability to transform inorganic into organic things , autotrophic organisms themselves form a key link in the food chain , this because their metabolism allows them to develop themselves and not from other living beings. Furthermore, if this type of organism did not exist, it would have been impossible to conceive life as we know it today, so its importance exceeds the limits of reality.

Autotrophic organisms are the beginning of the food chain and also contribute oxygen to the atmosphere . During their evolution, autotrophic organisms were responsible for giving rise to plants, algae and bacteria and photosynthetics found in the environment.

Examples

Some examples of autotrophic organisms are as follows:

• Seaweed arame, algae and red algae autótrofa.
• Geranium and pine trees .
• Cyanobacteria that are prokaryotic organisms capable of oxygenic photosynthesis.
• The red algae that are protists.
• Ochromonas or single-celled algae known as golden algae that have flagella to move.
• Diatoms or photosynthesizing unicellular algae are part of plankton and are surrounded by a cell wall containing opaline silica.
• Xanthophyceae which are yellow green algae live in fresh water and in the soil