How does biochemistry relate to nutrients needed for life?

Many questions describe hypothetical biochemistries, or alternatives to carbon, water, DNA, etc that aliens could use.

They cite specific examples, given a world we know about, of what creatures would need to metabolize. For example:

(Titan's environment): Low temperature. 45% larger atmospheric pressure than Earth. Methane and ethane are the solvents. Carbon-based life which breathes methane and ethane and expels acetylene. Other possibility is breathing hydrogen, ethane and acetylene, producing methane.

-Victor Stafusa, on link at start of question

What if we don't know a ton about the planet or moon we are designing, ex. the intricacies of atmospheric composition, the exact pressure, - but we want to get a sense of what our organisms should respire or consume, given a biochemistry? Is there even a way? Do you just pick what's abundant?

In other words

Could I say "The species has genetic material containing y" and get a list of things it will most likely eat?

posted about 8 years ago

Zxyrra‭

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