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Cellular respiration is the overall relationship between autotrophs and heterotrophs.Autotrophs are organisms that produce their own food through the process of photosynthesis, whereas heterotrophs are organisms that cannot prepare their own food and depend on autotrophs for nutrition.
The terms can be used to describe energy transfer in both autotrophs and heterotrophs. Energy transfer between trophic levels is generally inefficient , such that net production at one trophic level is generally only 10% of the net production at the preceding trophic level (the Ten percent law ).
Thus, heterotrophs – all animals, almost all fungi, as well as most bacteria and protozoa – depend on autotrophs, or primary producers, for the raw materials and fuel they need. Heterotrophs obtain energy by breaking down carbohydrates or oxidizing organic molecules (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) obtained in food.
Organotrophs use organic compounds as electron/hydrogen donors. Lithotrophs use inorganic compounds as electron/hydrogen donors.. The electrons or hydrogen atoms from reducing equivalents (electron donors) are needed by both phototrophs and chemotrophs in reduction-oxidation reactions that transfer energy in the anabolic processes of ATP synthesis (in heterotrophs) or biosynthesis (in autotrophs).
Position in the food web, or trophic level, is used in ecology to broadly classify organisms as autotrophs or heterotrophs. This is a non-binary classification; some organisms (such as carnivorous plants ) occupy the role of mixotrophs , or autotrophs that additionally obtain organic matter from non-atmospheric sources.
An amoeba of the genus Mayorella (Amoebozoa, Discosea) Amoebozoa is a large and diverse group, but certain features are common to many of its members. The amoebozoan cell is typically divided into a granular central mass, called endoplasm, and a clear outer layer, called ectoplasm. During locomotion, the endoplasm flows forwards and the ...
Clockwise from top right: Amoeba proteus, Actinophrys sol, Acanthamoeba sp., Nuclearia thermophila., Euglypha acanthophora, neutrophil ingesting bacteria. An amoeba (/ ə ˈ m iː b ə /; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; pl.: amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) / ə ˈ m iː b i /), [1] often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability ...
Protists are usually one-celled microorganisms. They include algae (autotrophs which make their own food) and protozoans (heterotrophs which eat the algae for food). In recent years, researchers have discovered many protists are mixotrophs, which can function in both modes.