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Glite Dictionary
photoautotrophic

photoautotrophic

1 9.9
Living things like plants or algae that use light to make food from water and minerals
  • adjective
  • /ˌfoʊtoʊˌɔːtəˈtrɒfɪk/
  • Specialized
: 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
phototrophic
vsphotoautotrophic
  • Specialized
1 7.5

A living thing that uses light to make food

requires using inorganic substances as the material to make food
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

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.