Meanings
- uncountableThe condition of being saprotrophic
Savile (43) suggests that obligate parasitism is a fundamental attribute of primitive groups and that more than once saprotrophism may have derived from it.
2012, R. Wood, Specificity in Plant Diseases, page 22 more examples
Of all the potential levels of interaction between fungi and other organisms, parasitism is perhaps the most difficult to demonstrate and distinguish from saprotrophism in the fossil record.
2009, Edith L. Taylor, Thomas N. Taylor, Michael Krings, Paleobotany: The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants, page 99Saprotrophism facilitates the persistence of the fungal population in a stand and limits the effects of genetic drift and founder effects by massively sustaining the production of propagules that will try to infect the healthy trees available (see Model section).
2018, Jean-Paul Soularue, Cécile Robin, Marie-Laure Desprez-Loustau, Cyril Dutech, “Short Rotations in Forest Plantations Accelerate Virulence Evolution in Root-Rot Pathogenic Fungi”, in Matteo Garbelotto, Paolo Gonthier, editors, Forest Pathology and Plant Health, page 31
Origin
Cite this entry
saprotrophism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saprotrophism
“saprotrophism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saprotrophism. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “saprotrophism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saprotrophism.
Source: saprotrophism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.