The Geochemical Origin of Microbes
The Geochemical Origin of Microbes

Author: William F. Martin

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2024-06-27

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1003859526

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This is a textbook covering the transition from energy releasing reactions on the early Earth to energy releasing reactions that fueled growth in the first microbial cells. It is for teachers and college students with an interest in microbiology, geosciences, biochemistry, evolution, or all of the above. The scope of the book is a quantum departure from existing “origin of life” books in that it starts with basic chemistry and links energy-releasing geochemical processes to the reactions of microbial metabolism. The text reaches across disciplines, providing students of the geosciences an origins/biology interface and bringing a geochemistry/origins interface to students of microbiology and evolution. Beginning with physical chemistry and transitioning across metabolic networks into microbiology, the timeline documents chemical events and organizational states in hydrothermal vents – the only environments known that bridge the gap between spontaneous chemical reactions that we can still observe in nature today and the physiology of microbes that live from H2, CO2, ammonia, phosphorus, inorganic salts and water. Life is a chemical reaction. What it is and how it arose are two sides of the same coin. Key Features Provides clear connections between geochemical reactions and microbial metabolism Focuses on chemical mechanisms and transition metals Richly illustrated with color figures explaining reactions and processes Covers the origin of the Earth, the origin of metabolism, the origin of protein synthesis and genetic information as well as the escape into the wild of the first free-living cells: Bacteria and Archaea

Links Between Geological Processes, Microbial Activities & Evolution of Life
Links Between Geological Processes, Microbial Activities & Evolution of Life

Author: Yildirim Dilek

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-07-01

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 1402083068

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Microbial systems in extreme environments and in the deep biosphere may be analogous to potential life on other planetary bodies and hence may be used to investigate the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. This book examines the mode and nature of links between geological processes and microbial activities and their significance for the origin and evolution of life on the Earth and possibly on other planets. This is a truly interdisciplinary science with societal relevance.

Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry
Ground-Water Microbiology and Geochemistry

Author: Francis H. Chapelle

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2000-10-26

Total Pages: 502

ISBN-13: 9780471348528

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Ein zeitgemäßer Beitrag zum Schutz unserer wertvollen Grundwasservorräte! In drei Teilen beschreibt dieser Band alle Aspekte der Mikrobiologie und Geochemie des Grundwassers. Teil 1 ist einem allgemeinen Überblick über die vorhandenen Mikroorganismen (Arten, Wachstum, Metabolismus, Genetik, Ökologie) gewidmet. Teil 2 befaßt sich mit Verteilung dieser Organismen im Grundwasser, Probennahme und geochemischen Modellen. Im Mittelpunkt des 3. Teils stehen mikrobiologische Prozesse in wasserführenden Schichten, die mit Chemikalien verunreinigt wurden. (10/00)

Geomicrobiology
Geomicrobiology

Author: Jillian F. Banfield

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2018-12-17

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 1501509241

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Volume 35 of Reviews in Mineralogy defines and explore the topic of geomicrobiology. It is organized so as to first introduce the nature, diversity, and metabolic impact of microorganisms and the types of solid phases they interact with. This is followed by a discussion of processes that occur at cell surfaces, interfaces between microbes and minerals, and within cells, and the resulting mineral precipitation, dissolution, and changes in aqueous geochemistry. The volume concludes with a discussion of the carbon cycle over geologic time. Basis for this volume was the Short Course on Geomicrobiology presented by the Mineralogical Society of America on October 18 and 19, 1997, at the Alta Peruvian Lodge in Alta, Utah.

Microbial Metal Respiration
Microbial Metal Respiration

Author: Johannes Gescher

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2014-02-21

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 3642328679

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Microbes can respire on metals. This seemingly simple finding is one of the major discoveries that were made in the field of microbiology in the last few decades. The importance of this observation is evident. Metals are highly abundant on our planet. Iron is even the most abundant element on Earth and the forth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. Hence, in some environments iron, but also other metals or metalloids, are the dominant respiratory electron acceptors. Their reduction massively drives the carbon cycle in these environments and establishes redox cycles of the metallic electron acceptors themselves. These redox cycles are not only a driving force for other biotic reactions but are furthermore necessary for initiating a number of geochemically relevant abiotic redox conversions. Although widespread and ecologically influential, electron transfer onto metals like ferric iron or manganese is biochemically challenging. The challenge is to transfer respiratory electrons onto metals that occur in nature at neutral pH in the form of metal oxides or oxihydroxides that are effectively insoluble. Obviously, it is necessary that the microbes specially adapt in order to catalyze the electron transfer onto insoluble electron acceptors. The elucidation of these adaptations is an exciting ongoing process. To sum it up, dissimilatory metal reduction has wide-spread implications in the field of microbiology, biochemistry and geochemistry and its discovery was one of the major reasons to establish a novel scientific field called geomicrobiology. Recently, the discovery of potential applications of dissimilatory metal reducers in bioremediation or current production in a microbial fuel cell further increased the interest in studying microbial metal reduction.

The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life
The Quest for a Universal Theory of Life

Author: Carol E. Cleland

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-09-12

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 052187324X

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Explores fundamental philosophical and scientific questions about the nature of life, particularly in relation to the search for extraterrestrial life.

Geomicrobiology: Molecular and Environmental Perspective
Geomicrobiology: Molecular and Environmental Perspective

Author: Alexander Loy

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-07-23

Total Pages: 445

ISBN-13: 9048192048

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The interaction of microorganisms with geological activities results in processes influencing development of the Earth’s geo- and biospheres. In assessing these microbial functions, scientists have explored short- and longterm geological changes attributed to microorganisms and developed new approaches to evaluate the physiology of microbes including microbial interaction with the geological environment. As the field of geomicrobiology developed, it has become highly interdisciplinary and this book provides a review of the recent developments in a cross section of topics including origin of life, microbial-mineral interactions and microbial processes functioning in marine as well as terrestrial environments. A major component of this book addresses molecular techniques to evaluate microbial evolution and assess relationships of microbes in complex, natural c- munities. Recent developments in so-called ‘omics’ technologies, including (meta) genomics and (meta)proteomics, and isotope labeling methods allow new insights into the function of microbial community members and their possible geological impact. While this book summarizes current knowledge in various areas, it also reveals unresolved questions that require future investigations. Information in these chapters enhances our fundamental knowledge of geomicrobiology that contributes to the exploitation of microbial functions in mineral and environmental biotechn- ogy applications. It is our hope that this book will stimulate interest in the general field of geomicrobiology and encourage others to explore microbial processes as applied to the Earth.

The Geochemical and Spatial Argument for Microbial Life Surviving Into Early Diagenesis in the Appalachian Basin
The Geochemical and Spatial Argument for Microbial Life Surviving Into Early Diagenesis in the Appalachian Basin

Author: Edwin R. Buchwalter

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13:

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While life is known to exist in the subsurface environment, specific limitations to microbial populations inhabiting deep subsurface habitats are assumed and include organic substrate and terminal electron acceptor availability, temperature and space to live. Microbial populations have been found in environments where they are least expected, notably 3 km deep in granite as well as in the boreholes and near-borehole environment of oil and gas wells where they often cause problems for oil and gas operators. While an anthropogenic source is assumed for microbes in and near the borehole of oil and gas wells in the Utica-Point Pleasant system due to the high temperatures the rock has undergone, the question remains whether microbial populations could have survived in less mature rock to the West of contemporary oil and gas operations. As a component of an NSF funded study "Microbial Biodiversity and Functionality of Deep Shale and it's Interfaces" this research attempts to answer whether microbes could have survived to the present day in pores as well as questions relating to biological limitations and whether these are present in the Utica-Point Pleasant. Looking at sulfur, organic carbon and potential micro-lithologies within the Utica-Point Pleasant organic-rich mudstone may yield a better understanding of how the diagenesis of a marine mud affects anaerobic microbial populations established in these muds. Utilizing a variety of petrophysical, geochemical and high resolution imaging techniques this research has identified micro-lithologies within the Utica-Point Pleasant system that likely provided safe harbor for anaerobic microbes until the habitat was either sterilized due to temperature or in-filled with minerals, sealing off these habitats. Further, these micro-lithologies may respond to hydraulic fracturing chemicals and processes and become inhabitable for anthropogenically introduced microbial populations.

Life's Engines
Life's Engines

Author: Paul G. Falkowski

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2023-06-13

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0691247684

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The marvelous microbes that made life on Earth possible and support our very existence For almost four billion years, microbes had the primordial oceans all to themselves. The stewards of Earth, these organisms transformed the chemistry of our planet to make it habitable for plants, animals, and us. Life's Engines takes readers deep into the microscopic world to explore how these marvelous creatures made life on Earth possible—and how human life today would cease to exist without them. Paul Falkowski looks "under the hood" of microbes to find the engines of life, the actual working parts that do the biochemical heavy lifting for every living organism on Earth. With insight and humor, he explains how these miniature engines are built—and how they have been appropriated by and assembled like Lego sets within every creature that walks, swims, or flies. Falkowski shows how evolution works to maintain this core machinery of life, and how we and other animals are veritable conglomerations of microbes. A vibrantly entertaining book about the microbes that support our very existence, Life's Engines will inspire wonder about these elegantly complex nanomachines that have driven life since its origin. It also issues a timely warning about the dangers of tinkering with that machinery to make it more "efficient" at meeting the ever-growing demands of humans in the coming century.