Heterotroph

Origin

- + troph + -

Full definition of heterotroph

Noun

1. (ecology) An organism which requires an external supply of energy in the form of food as it cannot synthesize its own.
• 2013-03, w, The Smallest Cell, It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.

Derived terms

• heterotrophic
• organoheterotroph

Coordinate terms

• autotroph