prototroph: Meaning and Definition of

pro•to•troph

Pronunciation: (prō'tu-trof", -trōf"), [key]
— n. Biol.
  1. a microorganism that has the same nutritional requirements as the parent organism. Cf.
  2. an organism or cell capable of synthesizing all its metabolites from inorganic material, requiring no organic nutrients.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.