Osmotrophy
Encyclopedia
Osmotrophy is the uptake of dissolved organic compound
s by osmosis
for nutrition. Organisms that use osmotrophy are osmotrophs. Some mixotrophic microorganism
s use osmotrophy to derive energy.
Organic compound
An organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...
s by osmosis
Osmosis
Osmosis is the movement of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, aiming to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides...
for nutrition. Organisms that use osmotrophy are osmotrophs. Some mixotrophic microorganism
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
s use osmotrophy to derive energy.