Flowchart to determine if a species is autotroph, heterotroph, or a subtype

Chemotrophs are organisms that obtain energy by the oxidation of electron donating molecules in their environments. A flowchart is a Schematic representation of an Algorithm or a stepwise process, showing the steps as boxes of various kinds and their order by connecting An autotroph (from the Greek autos = self and trophe = nutrition is an Organism that produces complex Organic compounds from simple A heterotrophs, or chemoorganotrophy ( Greek heterone = (another and trophe = nutrition is an Organism that requires In Physics and other Sciences energy (from the Greek grc ἐνέργεια - Energeia, "activity operation" from grc ἐνεργός Redox (shorthand for reduction-oxidation reaction describes all Chemical reactions in which atoms have their Oxidation number ( Oxidation state The electron is a fundamental Subatomic particle that was identified and assigned the negative charge in 1897 by J In Chemistry, a molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable electrically neutral group of at least two Atoms in a definite arrangement held together by These molecules can be organic (organotrophs) or inorganic (lithotrophs). An organic compound is any member of a large class of Chemical compounds whose Molecules contain Carbon. An organotroph is an organism that obtains hydrogen or electrons from organic substrates Traditionally inorganic compounds are considered to be of mineral not biological origin A lithotroph is an Organism that uses an Inorganic substrate (usually of mineral origin to obtain reducing equivalents for use in biosynthesis (e The chemotroph designation is in contrast to phototrophs which utilize solar energy. Photoautotrophs or Phototroph ( Gk: photo = light auto = self troph = nourishment are Organisms (commonly plants that carry out Photosynthesis Chemotrophs can be either autotrophic or heterotrophic. An autotroph (from the Greek autos = self and trophe = nutrition is an Organism that produces complex Organic compounds from simple A heterotrophs, or chemoorganotrophy ( Greek heterone = (another and trophe = nutrition is an Organism that requires

• Chemoautotrophs (or chemotrophic autotroph), in addition to deriving energy from chemical reactions, synthesize all necessary organic compounds from carbon dioxide. A chemical reaction is a process that always results in the interconversion of Chemical substances The substance or substances initially involved in a chemical reaction are called Carbon dioxide ( Chemical formula:) is a Chemical compound composed of two Oxygen Atoms covalently bonded to a single Chemoautotrophs generally only use inorganic energy sources. Most are bacteria or archaea that live in hostile environments such as deep sea vents and are the primary producers in such ecosystems. The Bacteria ( singular: bacterium) are a large group of unicellular Microorganisms Typically a few Micrometres in length bacteria have An extremophile is an Organism that thrives in and may even require Physically or Geochemically extreme conditions that are detrimental to the A black smoker or sea vent is a type of Hydrothermal vent found on the Ocean floor. See also Primary production (economics Primary production is the production of Organic compounds from atmospheric or aquatic Carbon dioxide, An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( Evolutionary scientists believe that the first organisms to inhabit Earth were chemoautotrophs that produced oxygen as a by-product and later evolved into both aerobic, animal-like organisms and photosynthetic, plant-like organisms. Photosynthesis is a Metabolic pathway that converts Light Energy into Chemical energy. Chemoautotrophs generally fall into several groups: methanogens, halophiles, sulfur reducers, nitrifiers, anammoxbacteria and thermoacidophiles. Methanogens are Archaea that produce Methane as a Metabolic byproduct in Anoxic conditions Halophiles are Extremophiles that thrive in environments with very high concentrations of Salt. Sulfur-reducing bacteria get their energy by reducing elemental sulfur to hydrogen sulfide Nitrification is the biological oxidation of Ammonia with oxygen into Nitrite followed by the oxidation of these nitrites into Nitrates Degradation Anammox, an acronym for anaerobic ammonium oxidation, is a stage in the Nitrogen cycle. A thermoacidophile (combination of Thermophile and Acidophile) is an extreme Archaebacteria which thrives in Acidous Sulfur
• Chemoheterotrophs (or chemotrophic heterotrophs) must ingest organic building blocks that they are incapable of creating on their own. Most chemoheterotrophs derive energy from organic molecules like glucose. Glucose (Glc a Monosaccharide (or simple Sugar) also known as grape sugar, is an important Carbohydrate in Biology.

The names of these primary nutritional groups are built from Greek roots. An Organism may be placed into one each of the three pairs of major nutritional groups based on their carbon energy and electron sources Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The root is the primary lexical unit of a Word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents "Chemo" means "chemical" and "troph" means "nourishment". "Auto" means "self" and "hetero" means "other".

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. Photoautotrophs or Phototroph ( Gk: photo = light auto = self troph = nourishment are Organisms (commonly plants that carry out Photosynthesis

• In general, iron oxidizing bacteria can only exist 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 uptake the iron. The prokaryotes (proʊˈkærioʊts singular prokaryote /proʊˈkæriət/ are a group of Organisms that lack a Cell nucleus (= karyon or any other
• 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. Igneous rocks (etymology from Latin ignis, fire are rocks formed by solidification of cooled Magma (molten rock In addition, since 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 which eats away at the rock, perhaps through specialized enzymes or compounds which bring more FeO to the surface. Enzymes are Biomolecules that catalyze ( ie increase the rates of Chemical reactions Almost all enzymes are Proteins It has been long debated about how much of the weathering of the rock is due to biotic and how much can be attributed to abiotic processes. In Biology, abiotic components are non-living Chemical and Physical factors in the environment.
• 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. Catalysis is the process in which the rate of a Chemical reaction is increased by means of a Chemical substance known as a catalyst

Manganese oxidizing bacteria also make use of igneous lava rocks in much the same way - by oxidizing Mn2+ into Mn4+. Manganese (ˈmæŋgəniːz is a Chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. 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.

See also

• Primary nutritional groups
• Chemosynthesis

References

1. An Organism may be placed into one each of the three pairs of major nutritional groups based on their carbon energy and electron sources Chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon molecules (usually Carbon dioxide or Methane) and nutrients into organic matter using the Oxidation Katrina Edwards. Microbiology of a Sediment Pond and the Underlying Young, Cold, Hydrologically Active Ridge Flank. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

2. Coupled Photochemical and Enzymatic Mn(II) Oxidation Pathways of a Planktonic Roseobacter-Like Bacterium Colleen M. Hansel and Chris A. Francis* Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2115 Received 28 September 2005/ Accepted 17 February 2006

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