Chemotroph
Encyclopedia
Chemotrophs are organisms that obtain energy
by the oxidation of electron donor
s in their environments. These molecules can be organic (chemoorganotroph
s) or inorganic
(chemolithotrophs). The chemotroph designation is in contrast to phototroph
s, which utilize solar energy. Chemotrophs can be either autotroph
ic or heterotroph
ic.
Manganese
oxidizing bacteria also make use of igneous lava rocks in much the same way - by oxidizing Mn2+ into Mn4+. Manganese is much rarer than iron in oceanic crust, but is much easier for bacteria to extract from the igneous glass. In addition, each manganese oxidation yields around twice the energy as an iron oxidation due to the gain of twice the number of electrons. Much still remains unknown about manganese oxidizing bacteria because they have not been cultured and documented to any great extent.
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
by the oxidation of electron donor
Electron donor
An electron donor is a chemical entity that donates electrons to another compound. It is a reducing agent that, by virtue of its donating electrons, is itself oxidized in the process....
s in their environments. These molecules can be organic (chemoorganotroph
Chemoorganotroph
Chemoorganotrophs are organisms which use organic compounds as their energy source. These organic chemicals include glucose and acetate. All animals are chemoorganotrophs, as are fungi, protozoa, and some bacteria. Indeed, most heterotrophs are chemoorganotrophs. However, chemolithotrophs instead...
s) or inorganic
Inorganic compound
Inorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...
(chemolithotrophs). The chemotroph designation is in contrast to phototroph
Phototroph
Phototrophs are the organisms that carry out photosynthesis to acquire energy. They use the energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into organic material to be utilized in cellular functions such as biosynthesis and respiration.Most phototrophs are autotrophs, also known as...
s, which utilize solar energy. Chemotrophs can be either autotroph
Autotroph
An autotroph, or producer, is an organism that produces complex organic compounds from simple inorganic molecules using energy from light or inorganic chemical reactions . They are the producers in a food chain, such as plants on land or algae in water...
ic or heterotroph
Heterotroph
A heterotroph is an organism that cannot fix carbon and uses organic carbon for growth. This contrasts with autotrophs, such as plants and algae, which can use energy from sunlight or inorganic compounds to produce organic compounds such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from inorganic carbon...
ic.
- Chemoautotrophs (or chemotrophic autotroph), (Gr: Chemo (χημία) = chemical, auto (αὐτός) = self, troph (τροφιά) = nourishment) in addition to deriving energy from chemical reactionChemical reactionA chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...
s, synthesize all necessary organic compounds from carbon dioxideCarbon dioxideCarbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
. Chemoautotrophs use inorganic energy sources, such as hydrogen sulfideHydrogen sulfideHydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
, elemental sulfurSulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
, ferrous ironIron(II) oxideIron oxide, also known as ferrous oxide, is one of the iron oxides. It is a black-colored powder with the chemical formula . It consists of the chemical element iron in the oxidation state of 2 bonded to oxygen. Its mineral form is known as wüstite. Iron oxide should not be confused with rust,...
, molecular hydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
, and ammoniaAmmoniaAmmonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
. Most are bacteriaBacteriaBacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
or archaeaArchaeaThe Archaea are a group of single-celled microorganisms. A single individual or species from this domain is called an archaeon...
that live in hostileExtremophileAn extremophile is an organism that thrives in physically or geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to most life on Earth. In contrast, organisms that live in more moderate environments may be termed mesophiles or neutrophiles...
environments such as deep sea vents and are the primary producers in such ecosystemEcosystemAn ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s. Evolutionary scientists believe that the first organisms to inhabit Earth were chemoautotrophs that produced oxygen as a by-product and later evolved into both aerobicAerobic organismAn aerobic organism or aerobe is an organism that can survive and grow in an oxygenated environment.Faculitative anaerobes grow and survive in an oxygenated environment and so do aerotolerant anaerobes.-Glucose:...
, animal-like organisms and photosynthetic, plant-like organisms. Chemoautotrophs generally fall into several groups: methanogenMethanogenMethanogens are microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic byproduct in anoxic conditions. They are classified as archaea, a group quite distinct from bacteria...
s, halophileHalophileHalophiles are extremophile organisms that thrive in environments with very high concentrations of salt. The name comes from the Greek for "salt-loving". While the term is perhaps most often applied to some halophiles classified into the Archaea domain, there are also bacterial halophiles and some...
s, sulfur oxidizers and reducerSulfur-reducing bacteriaSulfur-reducing bacteria get their energy by reducing elemental sulfur to hydrogen sulfide. They couple this reaction with the oxidation of acetate, succinate or other organic compounds....
s, nitrifiersNitrificationNitrification is the biological oxidation of ammonia with oxygen into nitrite followed by the oxidation of these nitrites into nitrates. Degradation of ammonia to nitrite is usually the rate limiting step of nitrification. Nitrification is an important step in the nitrogen cycle in soil...
, anammoxAnammoxAnammox, an abbreviation for ANaerobic AMMonium OXidation, is a globally important microbial process of the nitrogen cycle . The bacteria mediating this process were identified in 1991, and at the time were a great surprise for the scientific community...
bacteria, and thermoacidophileThermoacidophileA thermoacidophile is an extreme archeon which thrives in acidous, sulfur rich, high temperature environments....
s. Chemolithotrophic growth could be dramatically fast, such as Thiomicrospira crunogena with a doubling timeDoubling timeThe doubling time is the period of time required for a quantity to double in size or value. It is applied to population growth, inflation, resource extraction, consumption of goods, compound interest, the volume of malignant tumours, and many other things which tend to grow over time...
around one hour. - Chemoheterotrophs (or chemotrophic heterotrophs) (Gr: Chemo (χημία) = chemical, hetero (ἕτερος) = (an)other, troph (τροφιά) = nourishment) are unable to fix carbonCarbon fixationIn biology, carbon fixation is the reduction of carbon dioxide to organic compounds by living organisms. The obvious example is photosynthesis. Carbon fixation requires both a source of energy such as sunlight, and an electron donor such as water. All life depends on fixed carbon. Organisms that...
and form their own organic compounds. Chemoheterotrophs can be chemolithoheterotrophs, utilizing inorganic energy sources such as sulfur or chemoorganoheterotrophs, utilizing organic energy sources such as carbohydrateCarbohydrateA carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
s, lipidLipidLipids constitute a broad group of naturally occurring molecules that include fats, waxes, sterols, fat-soluble vitamins , monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, phospholipids, and others...
s, and proteinProteinProteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
s.
Iron and manganese oxidizing bacteria
In the deep oceans, iron oxidizing bacteria derive their energy needs by oxidizing iron(II) to iron(III). The extra electron obtained from this reaction powers the cells, replacing or augmenting traditional phototrophism.- In general, iron oxidizing bacteria can exist only in areas with high iron concentrations, such as new lava beds or areas of hydrothermal activity (where there is dissolved Fe). Most of the ocean is devoid of iron, due to both the oxidative effect of dissolved oxygen in the water and the tendency of prokaryotes to take up the iron.
- Lava beds supply bacteria with iron straight from the Earth's mantle, but only newly formed igneous rocks have high enough levels of unoxidized iron. In addition, because oxygen is necessary for the reaction, these bacteria are much more common in the upper ocean, where oxygen is more abundant.
- What is still unknown, though, is how exactly iron bacteria extract the iron out of the rock. It is accepted that some mechanism exists that eats away at the rock, perhaps through specialized enzymeEnzymeEnzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
s or compounds that bring more FeO to the surface. It has been long debated about how much of the weathering of the rock is due to biotic componentBiotic componentBiotic components are the living things that shape an ecosystem. A biotic factor is any living component that affects another organism, including animals that consume the organism in question, and the living food that the organism consumes. Each biotic factor needs energy to do work and food for...
s and how much can be attributed to abiotic components. - Hydrothermal vents also release large quantities of dissolved iron into the deep ocean, allowing bacteria to survive. In addition, the high thermal gradient around vent systems means a wide variety of bacteria can coexist, each with its own specialized temperature niche.
- Regardless of the catalytic method used, chemoautotrophic bacteria provide a significant but frequently overlooked food source for deep sea ecosystems - which otherwise receive limited sunlight and organic nutrients.
Manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
oxidizing bacteria also make use of igneous lava rocks in much the same way - by oxidizing Mn2+ into Mn4+. Manganese is much rarer than iron in oceanic crust, but is much easier for bacteria to extract from the igneous glass. In addition, each manganese oxidation yields around twice the energy as an iron oxidation due to the gain of twice the number of electrons. Much still remains unknown about manganese oxidizing bacteria because they have not been cultured and documented to any great extent.
Flowchart
- AutotrophAutotrophAn autotroph, or producer, is an organism that produces complex organic compounds from simple inorganic molecules using energy from light or inorganic chemical reactions . They are the producers in a food chain, such as plants on land or algae in water...
- Chemoautotroph
- Photoautotroph
- HeterotrophHeterotrophA heterotroph is an organism that cannot fix carbon and uses organic carbon for growth. This contrasts with autotrophs, such as plants and algae, which can use energy from sunlight or inorganic compounds to produce organic compounds such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from inorganic carbon...
- Chemoheterotroph
- PhotoheterotrophPhotoheterotrophPhotoheterotrophs are heterotrophic organisms that use light for energy, but cannot use carbon dioxide as their sole carbon source. Consequently, they use organic compounds from the environment to satisfy their carbon requirements. They use compounds such as carbohydrates, fatty acids and...