Definition of phototroph in English:
phototroph
noun ˈfəʊtə(ʊ)trəʊfˈfōdəˌträf
Biology An organism that uses energy from sunlight to synthesize organic compounds for nutrition.
Example sentencesExamples
- Hints for this comes from a recent publication showing that 15 genes that are limited to the plastid genome in all other eukaryotic phototrophs are nucleus encoded in a peridinin-containing dinoflagellate.
- Our approach disclosed a disproportional impact on trophic cascades by numerically minor phototrophs that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.
- Whereas phototrophs generally harbor a large number of isoforms, animals exhibit only two or three isoforms.
- Consequently, numerous marine phototrophs, including macro- and microalgae, have developed carbon-concentrating mechanisms.
- Symbiosis with unicellular phototrophs has existed in anthozoans at least since the Triassic (225 million years ago) and likely constitutes a source of selective pressures that have deeply modified the host's physiology.