Topic: Autotroph

An autotroph or primary producer is an organism that produces complex organic compounds

(such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) using carbon from simple substances such as
carbon dioxide, generally using energy from light (photosynthesis) or inorganic chemical
reactions (chemosynthesis). They convert an abiotic source of energy (e.g. light) into energy
stored in organic compounds, which can be used by other organisms (e.g. heterotrophs).
Autotrophs do not need a living source of carbon or energy and are the producers in a food
chain, such as plants on land or algae in water (in contrast to heterotrophs as consumers of
autotrophs or other heterotrophs). Autotrophs can reduce carbon dioxide to make organic
compounds for biosynthesis and as stored chemical fuel. Most autotrophs use water as the
reducing agent, but some can use other hydrogen compounds such as hydrogen sulfide.

The primary producers can convert the energy in the light (phototroph and photoautotroph) or
the energy in inorganic chemical compounds (chemotrophs or chemolithotrophs) to build
organic molecules, which is usually accumulated in the form of biomass and will be used as
carbon and energy source by other organisms (e.g. heterotrophs and mixotrophs). The
photoautotrophs are the main primary producers, converting the energy of the light into
chemical energy through photosynthesis, ultimately building organic molecules from carbon
dioxide, an inorganic carbon source. Examples of chemolithotrophs are some archaea and
bacteria (unicellular organisms) that produce biomass from the oxidation of inorganic
chemical compounds, these organisms are called chemoautotrophs, and are frequently found
in hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean. Primary producers are at the lowest trophic level,
and are the reasons why Earth sustains life to this day.Most chemoautotrophs are lithotrophs,
using inorganic electron donors such as hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen gas, elemental sulfur,
ammonium and ferrous oxide as reducing agents and hydrogen sources for biosynthesis and
chemical energy release. Autotrophs use a portion of the ATP produced during
photosynthesis or the oxidation of chemical compounds to reduce NADP+ to NADPH to
form organic compounds.

History
The term autotroph was coined by the German botanist Albert Bernhard Frank in 1892. It
stems from the ancient Greek word τροφή (trophḗ), meaning "nourishment" or "food". The
first autotrophic organism developed about 2 billion years ago. Photoautotrophs evolved from
heterotrophic bacteria by developing photosynthesis. The earliest photosynthetic bacteria
used hydrogen sulphide. Due to the scarcity of hydrogen sulphide, some photosynthetic
bacteria evolved to use water in photosynthesis, leading to cyanobacteria.

Variants
Some organisms rely on organic compounds as a source of carbon, but are able to use light or
inorganic compounds as a source of energy. Such organisms are mixotrophs. An organism
that obtains carbon from organic compounds but obtains energy from light is called a
photoheterotroph, while an organism that obtains carbon from organic compounds and energy
from the oxidation of inorganic compounds is termed a chemolithoheterotroph.
Evidence suggests that some fungi may also obtain energy from ionizing radiation: Such
radiotrophic fungi were found growing inside a reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Examples
There are many different types of primary producers out in the Earth's ecosystem at different
states. Fungi and other organisms that gain their biomass from oxidizing organic materials are
called decomposers and are not primary producers. However, lichens located in tundra
climates are an exceptional example of a primary producer that, by mutualistic symbiosis,
combine photosynthesis by algae (or additionally nitrogen fixation by cyanobacteria) with the
protection of a decomposer fungus. Also, plant-like primary producers (trees, algae) use the
sun as a form of energy and put it into the air for other organisms. There are of course H2O
primary producers, including a form of bacteria, and phytoplankton. As there are many
examples of primary producers, two dominant types are coral and one of the many types of
brown algae, kelp.

Photosynthesis
Gross primary production occurs by photosynthesis. This is also a main way that primary
producers take energy and produce/release it somewhere else. Plants, coral, bacteria, and
algae do this. During photosynthesis, primary producers take energy from the sun and
produce it into energy, sugar, and oxygen. Primary producers also need energy to convert this
same energy elsewhere, so they get it from nutrients. One type of nutrient is nitrogen.

Ecology
Without primary producers, organisms that are capable of producing energy on their own, the
biological systems of Earth would be unable to sustain themselves. Plants, along with other
primary producers, produce the energy that other living beings consume, and the oxygen that
they breathe. It is thought that the first organisms on Earth were primary producers located on
the ocean floor.Autotrophs are fundamental to the food chains of all ecosystems in the world.
They take energy from the environment in the form of sunlight or inorganic chemicals and
use it to create fuel molecules such as carbohydrates. This mechanism is called primary
production. Other organisms, called heterotrophs, take in autotrophs as food to carry out
functions necessary for their life. Thus, heterotrophs – all animals, almost all fungi, as well as
most bacteria and protozoa – depend on autotrophs, or primary producers, for the raw
materials and fuel they need. Heterotrophs obtain energy by breaking down carbohydrates or
oxidizing organic molecules (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) obtained in food. Carnivorous
organisms rely on autotrophs indirectly, as the nutrients obtained from their heterotrophic
prey come from autotrophs they have consumed.

Most ecosystems are supported by the autotrophic primary production of plants and
cyanobacteria that capture photons initially released by the sun. Plants can only use a fraction
(approximately 1%) of this energy for photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis splits a
water molecule (
H

{\displaystyle {\ce {H2O}}}

), releasing oxygen (

O
2

{\displaystyle {\ce {O2}}}

) into the atmosphere, and reducing carbon dioxide (

CO

2
{\displaystyle {\ce {CO2}}}

) to release the hydrogen atoms that fuel the metabolic process of primary production. Plants
convert and store the energy of the photon into the chemical bonds of simple sugars during
photosynthesis. These plant sugars are polymerized for storage as long-chain carbohydrates,
including other sugars, starch, and cellulose; glucose is also used to make fats and proteins.
When autotrophs are eaten by heterotrophs, i.e., consumers such as animals, the
carbohydrates, fats, and proteins contained in them become energy sources for the
heterotrophs. Proteins can be made using nitrates, sulfates, and phosphates in the soil.

Primary production in tropical streams and rivers

Aquatic algae are a significant contributor to food webs in tropical rivers and streams. This is
displayed by net primary production, a fundamental ecological process that reflects the
amount of carbon that is synthesized within an ecosystem. This carbon ultimately becomes
available to consumers. Net primary production displays that the rates of in-stream primary
production in tropical regions are at least an order of magnitude greater than similar
temperate systems.

See also
Electrolithoautotroph

Electrotroph

Heterotrophic nutrition

Organotroph

Primary nutritional groups

References
External links
"Lichen Biology and the Environment". www.lichen.com. Archived from the original on 21
June 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.

"Lichens". herbarium.usu.edu. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014.

"Lichens". archive.bio.ed.ac.uk.