Mixotrophs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Organisms that obtain energy both by photosynthesis and by ingesting food such as bacteria or other microbes
2. Living things able to feed themselves through sunlight-driven synthesis as well as by taking in and digesting other organisms
3. Microorganisms that blend autotrophic and heterotrophic nutrition, capturing light energy while also consuming prey or dissolved organic matter

Etymology: "Mixotrophs" is the plural of "mixotroph", an organism that combines two ways of getting energy and carbon. The name is a modern scientific coinage built from two Greek-derived pieces: "mixo-", from Latin "mixtus" meaning "mixed", and "-troph", from Greek "trophē", meaning "nourishment" or "food". Put together, the word describes something that feeds in more than one manner. The "-troph" element is a familiar one in biology, appearing in words such as "autotroph", which makes its own food by photosynthesis, and "heterotroph", which must consume other organisms. A mixotroph sits between these categories, using light to fix carbon like a plant while also ingesting food like an animal. Many single-celled plankton do exactly this, which is why the term became useful to ecologists studying ocean life.