Meanings
- uncountablebiologyReversion to the growth factor requirements of an ancestral strain.
These strains enable recording of reverse mutations from auxotrophism on tryptophan to prototrophism .
1992, Soviet Genetics - Volume 28, Issues 1-6, page 1732 more examples
Berrie [ 254 ] found that the incubation temperature of the colon bacillus has an influence on the incidence of the mutations returning to prototrophism and streptomycin independence
1962, Nikolaĭ Petrovich Dubinin, Problems of Radiation Genetics, page 275Auxotrophic mutant strains are readily obtained but they should always be tested for reversion to prototrophism before use.
2014, Antoon D. L. Akkermans, Jan Dirk Van Elsas, Frans J. De Bruijn, Molecular Microbial Ecology Manual - uncountableThe ability to obtain nourishment from a single source, such as iron, sulfur, or sunlight or to undergo anabolism.
Bacteria vary greatly in their food requirements from extreme examples of prototrophism and autotrophism to extreme parasitism.
1934, Marcus M. Mason, A Comparison of the Maximum Growth Rate of Various Bacteria Under Optimal Conditions, page 71 more example
The segregation of some markers ( as, for instance, a nutritional requirement versus prototrophism ) is evident only after the examination of the clones derived from the single spores, but the allele segregation has in any case occurred before spore formation.
1969, Giuseppe Sermonti, Genetics of Antibiotic-producing Microorganisms, page 144
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Cite this entry
prototrophism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prototrophism
“prototrophism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prototrophism. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prototrophism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prototrophism.
Source: prototrophism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.