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Multiple Choice

What is a chemoheterotroph?

Chemoheterotrophs get their energy from chemical reactions rather than from light, and they obtain their carbon from organic compounds. In metabolic terms, chemo- signals energy comes from chemical sources (not photons), while hetero indicates a reliance on organic molecules as carbon sources rather than fixing CO2. So the combination is energy derived from chemical reactions and carbon sourced from organic compounds. Humans, fungi, and many bacteria are good examples, deriving energy by oxidizing organic molecules and using those same or other organic molecules for carbon. The other scenarios mix energy or carbon sources differently: energy from light with carbon from CO2 describes photoautotrophs; energy from chemicals with carbon from CO2 describes chemoautotrophs; energy from light with carbon from organic compounds describes photoheterotrophs.

Chemoheterotrophs get their energy from chemical reactions rather than from light, and they obtain their carbon from organic compounds. In metabolic terms, chemo- signals energy comes from chemical sources (not photons), while hetero indicates a reliance on organic molecules as carbon sources rather than fixing CO2. So the combination is energy derived from chemical reactions and carbon sourced from organic compounds. Humans, fungi, and many bacteria are good examples, deriving energy by oxidizing organic molecules and using those same or other organic molecules for carbon. The other scenarios mix energy or carbon sources differently: energy from light with carbon from CO2 describes photoautotrophs; energy from chemicals with carbon from CO2 describes chemoautotrophs; energy from light with carbon from organic compounds describes photoheterotrophs.