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The terms detritivore and decomposer are often used interchangeably, but they describe different organisms. Detritivores are usually arthropods and help in the process of remineralization. Detritivores perform the first stage of remineralization, by fragmenting the dead plant matter, allowing decomposers to perform the second stage of ...
Saprotrophic plants or bacterial flora are called saprophytes (sapro-'rotten material' + -phyte 'plant'), although it is now believed [citation needed] that all plants previously thought to be saprotrophic are in fact parasites of microscopic fungi or of other plants.
All saprotrophic bacteria are unicellular prokaryotes, and reproduce asexually through binary fission. [2] Variation in the turnover times (the rate at which a nutrient is depleted and replaced in a particular nutrient pool) of the bacteria may be due in part to variation in environmental factors including temperature, soil moisture, soil pH, substrate type and concentration, plant genotype ...
Saprobionts should not be confused with detritivores, another class of decomposers which digest internally. [ citation needed ] These organisms can be good sources of extracellular enzymes for industrial processes such as the production of fruit juice.
The primary decomposer of litter in many ecosystems is fungi. [11] [12] Unlike bacteria, which are unicellular organisms and are decomposers as well, most saprotrophic fungi grow as a branching network of hyphae. Bacteria are restricted to growing and feeding on the exposed surfaces of organic matter, but fungi can use their hyphae to penetrate ...
Fungi are the primary decomposers in most environments, illustrated here Mycena interrupta. Saprophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead plant or animal biomass. [1] They are distinguished from detritivores in that saprophages are sessile consumers while detritivores are mobile.
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Saprophyte may refer to: . Saprotrophs; organisms, particularly fungi, which obtain nutrients directly from dead organic matter or wastes; Myco-heterotrophs; plants, fungi, or micro-organisms that live on dead or decomposing matter and parasitize fungi, rather than dead organic matter directly.