Auxotrophy

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The inability of a microorganism to synthesize an organic compound required for its growth, often as a result of mutation. uncountable, usually

    "There are reasons for believing that the mutation rates to auxotrophy are in general higher than the rates to prototrophy."

Synonyms

All synonyms
auxotrophism

Example

More examples

"There are reasons for believing that the mutation rates to auxotrophy are in general higher than the rates to prototrophy."

Etymology

From auxo- + -trophy.

Related phrases

organic compound

More for "auxotrophy"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.