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prototroph

American  
[proh-tuh-trof, -trohf] / ˈproʊ təˌtrɒf, -ˌtroʊf /

noun

Biology.

  1. a microorganism that has the same nutritional requirements as the parent organism.

  2. an organism or cell capable of synthesizing all its metabolites from inorganic material, requiring no organic nutrients.

Etymology

Origin of prototroph

First recorded in 1945–50; back formation from prototrophic

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.