UNIT 4 

Compare and Contrast Process in

Plants and Animals: Nutrient
Procurement and  Processing 
• NUTRIENT 
Refers to any kind of substance required
for the growth and maintenance of an
organism.
Types of Organisms based on the Mode
of Nutrition 
a. Autotrophs – organisms that obtain energy
from sunlight and chemicals to produce their
own  food. Examples: plants, chemosynthetic
bacteria 
b. Heterotrophs – organisms that cannot
make their own food and obtain their energy
from other  organisms. Examples: animals, fungi 
 Nutritional Requirements of Plants 
a. Water 
b. Carbon dioxide (further note: carbon dioxide and water are the raw
materials needed for  photosynthesis, the process by which plants
convert the energy from sunlight  into chemical energy.) 
c. Essential nutrients or elements 
• Macronutrients – normally required in amounts above 0.5% of
the plant’s dry weight. - Examples: C, H, O, N, K, Ca, Mg, P, S  

• Micronutrients – required in minutes or trace amounts. 

- Examples: Cl, Fe, B, Mn, Zn, Co, Mo
 Routes for the Absorption of Water and Mineral
across Plant Roots 
a. Symplast route – through plasmodesmata 
b. Apoplast route – along cell walls
 Specialized Absorptive Structure in
Plants 

a. Root hairs - slender extensions of specialized epidermal cells that

greatly increase the surface  area available for absorption.
b. Root nodules - localized swellings in roots of certain
plants where bacterial cells exist  symbiotically with the
plant. The bacteria help the plant fix nitrogen and in 
turn, the bacteria are able to utilize some organic
compounds provided by the  plant.  
c. Mycorrhizae (singular, mycorrhiza) - a symbiotic
interaction between a young root and a fungus.  The
fungus obtains sugars and nitrogen-containing  
compounds from root cells while the plant is able to get  
some scarce minerals that the fungus is better able to  
absorb from the soil.