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MODES OF

1. AUTOTROPHIC
2. HETEROTROPHIC
NUTRITION:-There
Life Processes

Transport and Excretion, Movement & Reproduction.

are mainly

AUTOTROPHIC NUTRITION
two
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For carrying various life processes. Eg.- Nutrition & Respiration, Control & Coordination, Growth & Development,

Energy is needed for life processes-Food is a kind of fuel which provide energy to all living organisms. The living
organism use chemical energy for carrying out various life processes. They get this chemical energy from food
through various chemical reactions. Food is the basic requirement of all living organisms for obtaining energy.
Nutrition:-the simplest food is glucose stach is made from glucose. The process of taking in food and
utilizing it is called Nutrition. Nutrition is a word which comes from Nutrient means an organic substance
which an organism obtain from its surroundings and uses it as a source of energy or for the biosynthesis of
its body constituents. For example CARBOHYDRTES & FATS ARE USED AS A SOURCE OF ENERGY
AND PROTEIN & MINERALS ARE USED FOR BIOSYNTHESIS OF ITS BODY CONSTITUNTS LIKE
BLOOD AND SKIN.
modes of

The word auto means SELF and trophe means NUTRITION.The mode of nutrition in which an
the

organism makes its own food from the simple inorganic materials like carbon dioxide and water
present in the surroundings (with the help of sunlight). The green plants have autotrophic mode of
nutritionthe autotrophic bacteria also obtain their food by this mode of nutrition.

HETEROTROPHIC NUTRITION
The mode of nutrition in which an organism cannot make their food from simple inorganic
materials like carbon dioxide and water, and depends on other organisms for its food.all the
animals and most of the bacteria and fungi have heterotrophic mode of nutrition.the non green
plants are also heterotrophs. Various types of heterotrophic nutrition are:-
1. SAPROTROPHIC NUTRITION OR SAPROPHYTIC NUTRITION
2. PARASITIC NUTRITION
3. HOLOZOIC NUTRITION

By VIVEK MISHRA
nutrition:
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i. SAPROPHYTIC NUTRION
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Saprophytic nutrition is that nutrition in which an organism obtain its food from decaying
organic matter of dead pants, dead animals and rotten bread, etc. fungi, many bacterias, are
example of saprophytes. They are also called Saprotrophic.

ii. PARASITIC NUTRITION

bacteria , a few plants like Cuscuta and some animals like roundworms and plasmodium.

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iii. HOLOZOIC NUTRITION
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The parasitic nutrition is that nutrition in which an organism derives its food from the body of another
living organism (called its host) without killing it. The organism which obtain food by this method are
called parasites. Most of the diseases are caused by the action of parasites. This mode is observed in fungi,

Holozoic means feeing on solid food. The holozoic nutrition is that mode of nutrition in which an organism
takes the complex organic food materials into its body by the process of ingestion, the ingested food is
digested and then absorbed into its body cells of the organism. The undigested and unabsorbed part of
food is thrown out of the body of the organism by the process of egestion.

Questions for practice

1.
2.
Why is nutrition necessary for living organisms.
Define a nutrient. Name any four nutrient present in our food.
Name one organism having saprotrophic parasitic and holozoic mode of nutrition.
Differentiate between autotrophs and heterotrophs.
What are the various types of heterotrophic nutrition?
What is mean by life processes?
Name the inorganic substances which are used by autotrophs to make their food?

Nutrition in plants
Green plants are autotrophs. Their mode of nutrition is autotrophic nutrition.
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The process by which green plants make their own food from carbon dioxide and water by using
sunlight energy in the presence of chlorophyll, is called PHOTOSYNTHESIS.
Oxygen gas is produced in this process.

Figure 1

The process of photosynthesis takes place in green leaves of plants. Steps involved during photosynthesis
are given below:-

i. Absorbtion of sunlight energy by chlorophyll.

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ii. Conversion of light energy into chemichal energy, and splitting of water into hydrogen and
oxygen by light energy.
iii. Reduction of carbon dioxide by hydrogen to form carbohydrate like glucose by utilizing the
chemical energy (obtained by the transformation of light energy).
iv. These steps takes place at different times. For example desert plants take up carbon dioxide at
night and prepare an intermediate product which is acted upon by the sunlight energy
absorbed by chlorophyll when the sun shines during the next day.
Conditions necessary for photosynthesis
1. Sunlight
2. Chlorophyll
3. Carbon dioxide
4. Water.
These conditions are also necessary for autotrophic nutrition. Green leaves make starch as food.
Starch gives a blue black color with iodine solution.

Raw materials for photosynthesis

i. Carbon dioxide
ii. Water
Opening and closing of stomata

► How plants obtain Carbon dioxide :-

there are large number of tiny pores called stomata on the surface of the leaves of the plants. Carbon
dioxide from the air enters the leaves of the plant through the stomata present on their surface. Each
stomatal pores are surrounded by pair of guard cells. Opening and closing of stomata are controlled by
guard cells. When water flows into the guard cells they swell, become curved and cause the pores to be
open. On the other hand when guard cells lose water, they shrink ,become straight and close the stomatal
pores. A large amount of water is lost from the cells of the plant leaves through stomatal pores. The oxygen
gas produced during photosynthesis also comes out from the stomatal opening.

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► How do plants obtain water for photosynthesis- the water absorbed by the plants for photosynthesis is
absorbed by the roots of the plant from the soil through the process of osmosis.

Other than two raw materials plants also need other raw materials such as nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and
magnesium, etc., for building their body. They take these raw materials from the soil.nitrogen is essential
for plants to make proteins and other compounds. Plants take up nitrogen from the soil in the form of
inorganic salts called nitrates or nitrites or in the form of organic compound which is made by from the
atmospheric nitrogen.

CHLOROPLAST: - chloroplasts are the site of photosynthesis. These are the organelles in the cells
of green plants which contain chlorophyll and where photosynthesis takes place. These can be
seen easily by the help of simple microscope, the cells. In a cross section of leaf, chloroplasts can be
seen as numerous disc like organelles in the photosynthesis cells of the plastids tissue just below
the upper epidermis.

► Why is diffusion insufficient to meet the oxygen requirements of multicellular organisms like
humans?

Ans –in case of single celled organisms no specific organs for taking in food, exchange of gases or
removal of waste may be needed because entire surface of the organism is in contact with the
environment. But in multicellular organisms all the cells may not be in contact with the
surrounding environment. Thus simple diffusion cannot meet the requirements of all the cells.

PROBLEMS FOR PRACTICE

1. What criteria do we use to decide whether something is alive?

2. What process would you consider essential for maintain life?
3. What are conditions essential for autotrophic nutrition?
4. How do plants obtain food?
5. How does carbon dioxide from the air enter the leaves of the plant to be used in
Photosynthesis?
6. Name the organelle of the plant cell in which photosynthesis occurs?
7. Why do plants need nitrogen? How do plants obtain nitrogen?
8. Name the various factors which effect the rate of photosynthesis in plants.
9. What is photosynthesis?
10. Explain the opening and closing of stomata in detail.

NUTRITION IN ANIMALS
Animals cannot prepare their food like plants. Animals are dependent on external sources for their food so
they are called heterotrophs. Animals are directly or indirectly dependent on plants for their food.
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Depending on the food they eat they are classified into three parts:

1. HERBIVORES:-Animals who directly eat

plant.
They are also called primary consumers.
Examples – Rabbit, Deer, sow, Grass hopper.
2. CARNIVORES:-carnivores are animals who
eat other animals. They are also called
secondary or tertiary a food consumers.
Example – Frog, Hawk, Tiger, Lion, snake
etc.,
3. OMNIVORES- animals that can both plants and animals. Examples – Man, cockroach, etc.

NUTRITION IN AMOEBA
 Amoeba shows the holozoic mode of nutrition i.e, taking in whole food into the body and
then digesting it with the help of enzymes.
 Amoeba feeds tiny microscopic plants and animals that float in water. Amoeba itself is a
single celled and microscopic animal. Its food consists of even smaller microscopic plants
and animal called phytoplanplanktons and zooplanktons.
 Amoeba takes in food by the process of phagocytosis. Phagocytosis means to eat the cell.
 Nutrition in amoeba consists of various processes like Ingestion, Digestion, Assimilation and
Egestion.
STEPS INVOLVED IN NUTRION OF AMOEBA

Ingestion: - amoeba engulfs the food with the help of pseudopodia. It extends its pseudopodia in
the direction of food and completely encircles it forming a food cup.
The point where pseudopodia touch each other, the cell membrane dissolves forming vacuole with
food captured inside.
Digestion: - in the food vacuole the digested enzyme break and digest the food.
Assimilation:-the soluble part of digested food diffuses into the cytoplasm and is utilized by the
cell.

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Egestion:- the undigested part remains in the food vacuole and is thrown out of the cell by
Exocytosis from any point on the membrane. Exocytosis is the throwing of materials from the cell. It
is the reverse of endocytosis.

By VIVEK MISHRA