Saprotrophic nutrition – The mode of nutrition in which organisms obtain nutrition from dead and decaying matters is known as saprotrophic nutrition. E.g. fungus.
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- Proteins are broken down into their amino acid composites through the breaking of peptide bonds by proteases.
- Lipids are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol by lipases.
- Starch is broken down into simple disaccharides by amylases.
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Saprotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of dead or decayed organic matter
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A saprotroph (or saprobe) is an organism that obtains its nutrients from non-living organic matter, usually dead and decaying plant or animal matter, by absorbing soluble organic compounds. Since saprotrophs consume external food sources rather than make their own food, they are considered a type of heterotroph.
Many species of fungi, bacteria, and protista are saprotrophs. Animal scavengers, such as dung beetles and vultures, are also sometimes referred to as saprotrophs, but are more commonly called saprophages. In food webs, saprotrophs generally play the role of decomposers. Saprotrophs are often eaten by consumers and therefore commonly play important roles as recyclers in ecosystem energy flow and biogeochemical cycles.
Saprophyte is an older term that is now considered obsolete. The suffix -phyte means "plant". However, there are no truly saprotrophic organisms that are embryophytes, and fungi and bacteria are no longer placed in the Plant Kingdom. Plants that were once considered saprophytes, such as non-photosynthetic orchids and monotropes, are now known to be parasites on fungi. These species are termed myco-heterotrophs.
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