Lesson 1 : autotrophs

classify autotroph into photoautotroph and chemoautotroph;

Neurospora can survive in minimum medium
• What is in a minimum medium?
• Carbohydrate and minerals, water
• No amino acid, no protein, no dna,
• Neurospora can survive because it can synthesise its own amino acids from the sugar and
the nitrates and sulphate
• Neurospora is not an autotroph, is a heterotroph
What is an autotroph
• Is able to synthesise carbohydrate, fix carbon (convert inorganic carbon like CO2, HCO3- to
organic molecule)
• To fix carbon is to reduce carbon dioxide, energy is required
• If the energy is from light : photoautotroph
• If the energy is from oxidation of inorganic substance: chemoautotroph
 Iron- and manganese-oxidizing bacteria[edit]
In the deep oceans, iron-oxidizing bacteria derive their energy needs by oxidizing ferrous iron (Fe 2+) to ferric iron (Fe3+).
The electron conserved from this reaction reduces the respiratory chain and can be thus used in the synthesis of ATP by forward
electron transport or NADH by reverse electron transport, replacing or augmenting traditional phototrophism.
•In general, iron-oxidizing bacteria can exist only in areas with high ferrous iron concentrations, such as new lava beds or areas of
hydrothermal activity. Most of the ocean is devoid of ferrous iron, due to both the oxidative effect of dissolved oxygen in the water and the
tendency of bacteria to take up the iron.
•Lava beds supply bacteria with ferrous iron straight from the Earth's mantle, but only newly formed igneous rocks have high enough levels of
ferrous 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 is how exactly iron bacteria extract iron from rock. It is accepted that some mechanism exists that eats away at the rock,
perhaps through specialized enzymes 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 components 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-oxidizing bacteria also make use of igneous lava rocks in much the same way; by oxidizing manganous manganese (Mn 2+) into manganic
(Mn4+) manganese. Manganese is more scarce than iron oceanic crust, but is much easier for bacteria to extract from igneous glass. In addition, each
manganese oxidation donates two electrons to the cell versus one for each iron oxidation, though the amount of ATP or NADH that can be synthesised in
couple to these reactions varies with pH and specific reaction thermodynamics in terms of how much of a Gibbs free energy change there is during the
oxidation reactions versus the energy change required for the formation of ATP or NADH, all of which vary with concentration, pH etc. Much still remains
unknown about manganese-oxidizing bacteria because they have not been cultured and documented to any great extent
Raven and johnson 686
Campbell 582