The basic understanding of the term parasitic nutrition can be described as a heterotopic mode of nutrition in which both the animal and plants feed themselves from their host or the body in which they live. By absorbing this nutrition from the host body, they grow and develop into a bigger and healthier version of themselves.   In biology, this topic plays a crucial role as the form of nutrition in both plants and animals of the system. Various types of parasitic organisms involved in plants and animals that have unique and different characteristics in order to obtain their food from the hosts. 

Parasitic Nutrition: Define

Two different organisms incorporate in the making of parasitic nutrition. The organism that collects or absorbs the food is called a parasite while the food or source of energy is called the host. Parasitic nutrition can be coined as a mode of heterotrophic nutrition that involves the dependency of the parasites on the host body for living and gaining strength in order to survive and live in any environment. During the process of parasitic nutrition, the organism that has the most negative or harmful effect is that of the host. 

Characteristics of Parasitic Nutrition 

Mechanism of parasitic nutrition

• The mechanism of parasitic nutrition is different in animals and plants. Each has a different role to play in building up the nutrition process within the parasites.   
• The procedure of obtaining food or nutrition from the host body has both aspects where at some point it benefits its host on the other hand it is also seen to cause serious damage to the host body of the parasite. 
• The characteristics of the parasitic plants are that it transports water and nutrition through a physiological bridge which is termed as haustorium. 
• In the working procedure of nutrition derivation, the parasitic plants attach one of their tissues to the host while it may discard its own process of photosynthesis. 

Key nutrition

• The key nutrients that parasitic plants extract are minerals and sugars. 
• The host organisms are usually bigger or larger than the parasites. In the nutrition absorption procedure, parasites incorporate both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. 
• There are a variety of absorption processes noticed in the parasitic nutrition like the adult parasite can live in hosts like lice, tapeworm or it can obtain the path of feeding its parasites occasionally.

Features of animal parasitic nutrition   

In terms of the animal parasites, it is witnessed that it possesses some different characteristics than plants. This mode of parasitic nutrition can be noticed to be performed by bacteria, fungi, and plasmodium. There are two types of parasitic modes of nutrition seen in animals like Endo and Ecto. Both have different significance in them but the basic foundation of it remains the same like to survive and reproduce within its host organism.

Examples of parasitic nutrition: Overview 

Citing some examples for enhanced acknowledgement on parasitic nutrition are Corpse Flower, Dodder, Dwarf Mistletoe and Australian Christmas tree. All of these plants follow the method of parasitic nutrition and collect nutrition from the host and utilize it for its survival and reproduction. On the other hand, the animal parasitic nutrition drivers are tapeworm, barnacles, fleas, leeches and lice. These parasitic animals like teamwork attach one of their strings inside the human, pig and cow’s intestine and receive their share of food from the half-digested food of the host and causing a nutrition deficiency in the host. 

Conclusion

In the context of the discussion, it can be inferred that it concentrates on the nutrition system of parasites in both animals and plants. The study also pivots on the mode of food absorption in the parasites for the progression of the living mechanism in the biological system. If a crucial look is laid upon the study material it can be observed that the study suggests differences in the parasites and along with the pivots with the example, for a better understanding and concept of the subject topic. A clear glimpse of the characteristics of parasitic nutrition is observed in the study.