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Glite Dictionary
photoautotrophic

photoautotrophic

9.9
Living things like plants or algae that use light to make food from water and minerals
  • adjective
  • /ˌfoʊtoʊˌɔːtəˈtrɒfɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fotoautótrofo
  • Many algae are photoautotrophic, using sunlight to synthesize nutrients from carbon dioxide and water.

Examples

  • Plants are photoautotrophic because they can convert sunlight into energy to make their own food.

  • The photoautotrophic bacteria found in this environment thrive in sunlight, producing food through photosynthesis.

  • The presented insights into the types and timing of cellular responses to inorganic carbon will help maximize photoautotrophic carbon flow to lipid accumulation.

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Synonyms

autotrophic
vsphotoautotrophic
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A living thing that makes its own food using sunlight or chemicals

uses only light as the energy source rather than chemical energy
holophytic
vsphotoautotrophic
  • Specialized
9.9

Getting food by making it from light and simple materials like green plants

emphasizes using light as the energy source for food production
phototrophic
vsphotoautotrophic
  • Specialized
7.5

A living thing that uses light to make food

requires using inorganic substances as the material to make food

Surface Forms

photoautotrophic positive

Morphology

photoautotrophic = autotrophic (semi-transparent) = photo + auto + troph + ic

Adding photo- to autotrophic is a regular scientific extension meaning 'light-dependent', so the step is compositionally clear.

Etymology

Photoautotrophic breaks into three parts: photo- meaning 'light', auto- meaning 'self', and -trophic meaning 'to feed'. So a photoautotrophic organism 'feeds itself' by using light to make its own food, like green plants and algae.