tropho-, troph-, -trophy, -trophs, -trophically, -trophic, -trophous

1. Dystrophic changes (disorders arising from defective or faulty nutrition) in the nails occurring as a congenital (birth) defect or due to any illness or injury that may cause a malformed nail.
2. Any distortion of a nail; a symptom seen in several diseases.

Nutrition, or nourishment, of the fingernails and toenails.

1. A reference to the nourishment of organs of the body.
2. Deriving energy from the oxidation of organic compounds; said of bacteria.
3. Pertaining to a microorganism that uses organic sources as a reducing power.

An organism that obtains nutrients through the active uptake of soluble materials across the cell membrane.

This class of organism, which includes the bacteria and fungi, cannot directly utilize particulate material as nutrients. The opposite of phagotroph.

1. Acquiring food by absorption, as fungi do.
2. Organisms that feed on dissolved organic molecules absorbed from the outside environmenT.
3. Feeding by "absorbing" dissolved food from the surrounding environment. Membrane pumps and pinocytosis are the most likely routes of food uptake.

Defective formation of bone; common in dogs with chronic nephritis.

A condition characterized by the overgrowth of bones.

Nutrition of osseous (bone) tissue.

1. Atrophy [wasting away] of all the parts of a structure.
2. General atrophy [wasting away] of the body.

Influencing the growth or activity of the parathyroid glands.

Deriving sustenance from living organic material.

Marasmus.

1. The rearing of children.
2. Literally, nurturance of a child; hence, child rearing or “parentcraft”.

An organism that obtains nutrients through the ingestion of solid organic matter. This class of organism includes all animals from the simplest, single-celled animal (for example, the protozoa) to the higher life forms. Organisms have some type of device to ingest particles, a digestive system, and a system to discard waste products; the opposite of osmotroph.

1. Eating particles of food; feeding by ingestion; engulfing food (no fungus does this).
2. Organisms that feed by ingesting particulate organic carbon or intact cells.