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EXPLAIN HETEROTROPHIC NUTRITION (PARASITE,SAPROPHYTES) |
The organisms which dependent on autotrophs as a source of nutrition are called heterotrophs (they carry out heterotrophic nutrition) and include herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, saprobionts, parasites and symbionts. Many free-living micro-organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, are saprobionts – they feed on dead animals and plants (which is termed saprobiontic nutrition). One of the common moulds found on bread, Rhizopus stolonifera, is an example of a sapro biontic fungus. A parasite is an organism that feeds on the tissues of another live organism (the host) and causes that organism harm. An example of a parasite is the tapeworm Taenia. |