prototrophic

[ proh-tuh-trof-ik, -troh-fik ]

adjective

1. (especially of certain bacteria) requiring only inorganic substances for growth.
2. (of certain microorganisms) requiring no specific nutriments for growth.

prototrophic

/ ˌprəʊtəˈtrɒfɪk /

adjective

1. (esp of bacteria) feeding solely on inorganic matter
2. (of cultured bacteria, fungi, etc) having no specific nutritional requirements

Word History and Origins

Origin of prototrophic¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; proto- + -trophic

Example Sentences

The nitrifying, nitrogen-fixing, sulphur- and iron-bacteria he regards as monotrophic, i.e. as able to carry on one particular series of fermentations or decompositions only, and since they require no organic food materials, or at least are able to work up nitrogen or carbon from inorganic sources, he regards them as primitive forms in this respect and terms them Prototrophic.

From Project Gutenberg

The enormous extension of surface also facilitates the absorption of energy from the environment, and, to take one case only, it is impossible to doubt that some source of radiant energy must be at the disposal of those prototrophic forms which decompose carbonates and assimilate carbonic acid in the dark and oxidize nitrogen in dry rocky regions where no organic materials are at their disposal, even could they utilize them.

From Project Gutenberg

He begins his study of life and its evolution by considering how nutrition and the derivation of energy can have taken place before chlorophyl had come into existence; and he very pertinently points to the prototrophic bacteria as probably representing "the survival of a primordial stage of life chemistry."

From Project Gutenberg