BIOL240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Hydrogen Peroxide, Anabolism, Cyanobacteria
15 Mar 2019
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Document Summary
Physiological diversity: result of 4 billion years of evolution. If there is a niche to exploit, microbe have adapted to exploit it: limited only by constraints of chemistry and physics. Organic carbon isn"t the primary food source for all microorganisms. Organic carbon wasn"t there in the beginning of life so they had to make do with co2 and light. Microorganisms had to exploit every niche meaning if they could adapt to an untapped food source, they could prosper as a species. Exploited the different electron donors to get as much energy from light (maybe) as possible. Some harsh conditions can logically be ignored as niches like very high temps. Example: methane is electron donor while iron and sulfate are acceptors. Metabolism: either catabolism or anabolism, both fall under metabolism, catabolism releases energy while anabolism consumes it. Microbial nutrient requirements: macronutrients, required by all cells to build macromolecules, c, n, p, s, o, micronutrients.
