Autotrophic Plants
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
This historical article defines autotrophic plants as organisms capable of synthesizing their own organic material from inorganic compounds in the environment. It covers both photoautotrophic green plants that use sunlight for photosynthesis and chemoautotrophic bacteria that utilize chemical energy from inorganic oxidation.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
AUTOTROPHIC PLANTS (from Greek autos—self and trophe—nourishment), plants that feed independently by absorbing inorganic substances from the surrounding environment and constructing the organic compounds of their body from them. The most important constituent part of the latter—carbon—is obtained from carbon dioxide or bicarbonate salts. First and foremost, all chlorophyll-bearing plants belong to autotrophic plants. For them, the source of energy required for the assimilation of CO2 is light (photosynthesis). Furthermore, autotrophic plants include bacteria for which the source of energy is the chemical energy of the inorganic matter they oxidize (chemosynthesis), such as nitrifying bacteria, iron bacteria, hydrogen bacteria, and sulfur bacteria.
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“Autotrophic Plants.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/autotrophic-plants/