Nutrition Flashcards
(139 cards)
define autotrophic
– makes complex organic molecules from
simple inorganic ones.
Name the two types of autotrophic organisms.
● Photoautotrophic
● Heterotrophic
What is a photoautotrophic organism?
Use light as a source of energy for synthesis of food.
What is a chemoautotrophic organism?
Oxidise inorganic molecules to provide energy for the synthesis of food
Define heterotrophic.
An organism that cannot produce its own
food. It obtains energy by feeding on
organic compounds produced by other
organisms
What is a saprotroph?
An organism that feeds by extracellular
digestion, e.g. fungi
Describe extracellular digestion by saprotrophs
● Release enzymes which catalyse the
breakdown of dead plant and animal
material into simpler organic matter
● Absorb the products of digestion
What is meant by the term ‘holozoic’?
Describes a heterotrophic organism that
internally digests food substances
What processes does holozoic nutrition involve?
Ingestion, digestion, absorption,
assimilation and egestion
Define ingestion.
The process by which organisms take
food into their bodies.
Define digestion.
The processes by which large, insoluble
molecules are broken down into smaller,
soluble molecules that can be absorbed across cell membranes.
Name the two types of digestion.
● Mechanical digestion
● Chemical digestion
What is mechanical digestion?
● Type of digestion that involves physically
breaking down food material into smaller pieces
● Increases the total surface area for chemical digestion
What is chemical digestion?
A type of digestion that involves breaking
down large, insoluble molecules into
smaller, soluble molecules using enzymes.
What is assimilation?
The synthesis of biological compounds
from absorbed simpler molecules
Define absorption.
The movement of useful substances into
the bloodstream
Define egestion
The removal of undigested waste
material from the body
Describe how unicellular organisms obtain nutrients
● Ingestion via phagocytosis
● Intracellular digestion (using hydrolytic enzymes) breaks down large, insoluble molecules into smaller, soluble molecules
● Products of digestion pass into the cytoplasm by diffusion and active transport
● Undigested material removed by exocytosis
What is a Hydra?
A small, multicellular, freshwater
organism of the phylum Cnidaria.
Describe the structure of Hydra
● Basic, undifferentiated sac-like gut
● Single opening, surrounded by tentacles,
that serves as a mouth and an anus
● Single gut cavity (known as the enteron)
Outline the process of digestion in
Hydra.
● Hydrolytic enzymes secreted into the enteron by the endodermis
● Extracellular digestion partially digests food molecules
● Partially digested food transported, via phagocytosis, into endodermal cells where intracellular digestion takes place
● Undigested material egested from the enteron via the single opening
Describe the shape of the gut in more complex organisms.
Tube-like with two openings, a mouth for
ingestion and anus for egestion.
What type of diet is the human gut adapted to?
An omnivorous diet consisting of plant
and animal material.
State the names of the different layers of
the gut wall
● Epithelium
● Mucosa
● Submucosa
● Muscle layer
● Serosa