Bacterial Metabolism: Autotrophic & Heterotrophic — NEET Biology
📚 Practice ConceptThough the bacterial structure is very simple, they are very complex in behaviour. Compared to many other organisms, bacteria as a group show the most extensive metabolic diversity. Some of the bacteria are autotrophic, i.e., they synthesise their own food from inorganic substrates. They may be photosynthetic autotrophic or chemosynthetic autotrophic. The vast majority of bacteria are heterotrophs, i.e., they depend on other organisms or on dead organic matter for food.
Assertion (A): Some bacteria are autotrophic and synthesize their own food from inorganic substrates. Reason (R): Photosynthetic autotrophic bacteria use chemical energy while chemosynthetic autotrophic bacteria use light energy for food synthesis.
View solution & NCERT explanation
Correct answer: C — If assertion is true but reason is false.
NCERT states “Some of the bacteria are autotrophic, i.e., they synthesise their own food from inorganic substrates” making the Assertion true. However, NCERT explicitly states “They may be photosynthetic autotrophic or chemosynthetic autotrophic” where photosynthetic bacteria use LIGHT energy and chemosynthetic bacteria use CHEMICAL energy. The Reason swaps these energy sources, creating a highly plausible false statement.
What does NCERT say about Though bacterial structure very?
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