Xenophagy

"Allotrophy" redirects here. For the variability of elemental structure, see allotropy.

Not to be confused with Xerophagy.

Xenophagy (Greek "strange" + "eating") and allotrophy (Greek "other" + "nutrient") are changes in established patterns of biological consumption, by individuals or groups.

• In entomology, xenophagy is a categorical change in diet, such as an herbivore becoming carnivorous, a predator becoming necrophagous, a coprophage becoming necrophagous or carnivorous, or a reversal of such changes.^[1] Allotrophy is a less extreme change in diet, such as in the case of the seven-spot ladybird, which can diversify a diet of aphids to sometimes include pollen.^[2] There are several apparent cases of allotrophy in Israeli Longitarsus beetles.^[3]
• In microbiology, xenophagy is the process by which a cell directs autophagy against pathogens, as reflected in the study of antiviral defenses.^[4] Cellular xenophagy is an innate component of immune responses,^[5] though the general importance of xenophagy is not yet certain.^[6][7][8]
• In ecology, allotrophy is also reflected in eutrophication, being a change in nutrient source such as an aquatic ecosystem^[9][10][11] that starts receiving new nutrients from drainage of the surrounding land.^[12]