Necrotrophic mixotrophy

Necrotrophic mixotrophy

Research domain

Predation

Definition

Definition by Selosse et al. 2017, Ecology Letters, 20: 246–263.
Necrotrophic (= predatory) mixotrophy: uptake of organic matter by predation on other living organisms, entailing their death, also called ‘phagomixotrophy for planktonic protists’ (Schmidt et al. 2013) or ‘constitutive mixotrophs’ (Mitra et al. 2016). Frequently observed in microalgae (by phagocytosis and digestion of other cells), this strategy is represented in land plants by carnivorous species (predating on small animals or unicellular organisms). Although the latter are secondarily evolved, phagocytotic abilities in microalgae is often a plesiomorphic trait, derived from the phagocytotic abilities of their heterotrophic ancestors, which allowed them to engulf the precursors of plastids. Aquatic protists or metazoans that retain plastids captured from autotrophs (kleptoplastidy) are considered as necrotrophic mixotrophs, since these plastids never escape the host cell.