principles of heteorophic nutrition?

Question

Hello all:
Can any body tell me the principles of heterotrophic nutrition, plz elabortae

Answer 1

Heterotrophs are organisms which do not make their own food and instead use the food prepared by the autotrophs or the producers.There are three types of heterotrophic nutrition:

1.Saprophytic:In this mode of nutrition,the organisms depend upon the dead and decaying organic(containing carbon or carbon chains) matter.they derive their nutritio from thesesaprophytic heterotrophs depend on dead, decaying organic matter. There are many species of saprophytic bacteria and fungi. Saprophytic decay bacteria and fungi are essential decomposers which recycle vital nutrients back into the ecosystem. .
.eg - mushrooms,etc.

2.Parasitic:In this mode of nutrition the organism dosn't pre[are its own food.It derives its food from some other organism.The organism fom which it derives its nutrition is called the host.eg
Parasitic nutrition: e.g. taenia (taenia solium - tapeworm). This is an endoparasite, with two hosts. The adult form is found attached on the inside of human intestines, the larval form is found in the pig. The adult is made up of segments called proglottides. At one end is the scolex, which has a double row of hooks and 4 suckers to attatch to the hosts intestine. Lower segments self fertilise and are released in the hosts faeces. It has no digestive system or enzymes it directly absorbs predigested nutrients straight into its body. It has a thick outer coating (tegument) made of protien and chitin, which protects it from the hosts enzymes. It can survive in low oxygen levels. It causes little damage in healthy humans.

Holozoic:Organisms that are holozoic are consumers. Primary consumers are herbivores and Secondary consumers are carnivores, some organ isms feed on both plants and animals and are called omnivores.. Each are specifically adapted to their particular type of nutrition:

Herbivores: e.g. cattle and sheep are herbivores and ruminants. Ruminants digestive systems allow a high proportion of cellulose to be digested. Ruminants have 4 stomachs (rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum).

1) food is swallowed and lands in the rumen. This contains bacteria and some protoists annd yeasts. Food remains here for upto 30 hrs. The food is often regurgitated to be chewed again (chewing the cud). The microbes break down the cellulose (with cellulase), into hexoses (breaks poly saccaride b-link). These hexoses are then fermented in anaerobic conditions into organic acids, alos alot of CO2 and methane are belched.
2) Next food enters the reticulum, sometimes food enters here first. Food moves between the rumen and reticulum fairly freely.
3) As the food enters the omasum, where water and organic acids are removed. No enzymes are secreted.
4) From here on it follows a similar path as in the human gut, with enzymes being secreted etc.

NB. many of the bacteria etc are also taken in with the food and digested, which makes protien digestion from the rumen even more efficient, as the microbes can convert low grade protien and urea into a high grade version that can be digested by the cow.

Carnivores: e.g. cat or dog. Their digestive system is more or less the same as humans. The greatest differences being in theeir dentition and other physical and behavioural adaptations which aid their hunting.

Answer 2

Because plants are autotrophic organisms—that is, they are able to manufacture their own food—they lie at the very foundation of the food web. Heterotrophic organisms (organisms that cannot manufacture their own food) usually lead less sedentary lives than plants, but they ultimately depend on autotrophs as sources of food. Plants are first fed upon by primary consumers, or herbivores, which in turn are fed upon by secondary consumers, or carnivores. Decomposers act upon all levels of the food web. A large proportion of energy is lost at each step in the food web; only about 10 per cent of the energy in one step is stored by the next. Thus, most food webs contain only a few steps.

Answer 3

heterotrophic organisms has to depend on other animal for food.the main principle of heterotrophic nutrition is to have(or eat) an inorganic source of carbon.

Answer 4

Yep. Had read this somewhere else. I mean come on they used to use cats and dogs put down at the vets as a rendered protein source in kibble.