I'm looking for information on anaerobic life forms ...how they survive, what alternative do they use, etc... I've browsed the web alot but havn't found anything pertinent. I know there's quite a few bacteries that donot need air to survive, does anyone know of any other life form? Could anyone point me to a site that covers that subject? If you want to know why I'm asking -> check my post here thank you
goldfish seem to be quite tolerant of anearobe conditions: http://info.uibk.ac.at/c/c7/c719/oekophys/people/krumschnabel/hypox-en.html
wow incredible! ANOXIA that's the word I needed -> after re-searching apparently cockroaches can live a few days without air, some northern trouts can live from a few days in normal conditions to up to a month in 0°C water without oxygen, some turtles up to 4-5 months when hibernating (I can go up to 2 minutes! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ) thank you very much Spuriusmonkey great help. I'm still looking for info on pure anaerobic life forms (am I being stupid when I think about some animals that only live round submarine volcanic areas that live of other gases than oxygen?) thanks
there is quite a lot of stuff on this subject on the net here is one: http://www.syslab.ceu.hu/corliss/Nature.html if you use for instance 'oceanic vents anaerobe' in google you will find more
You can do a search in google for "obligate anaerobe" and find a lot as well. One interesting microbe that doesn't live in an oceanic vent and is still anaerobic (there are lots), is Clostridium tetanii, the little bugger that causes tetanus. That's usually why you put hydrogen peroxide on cuts that are dirty. It saturates the wound with oxygen, which, surprisingly enough is a strong oxidizing agent. Unless you have the enzymes superoxidase dismutase and catalase, the oxygen is corrosive to you. Since there are quite a few organisms that lack these enzymes (mostly bacteria and archaea), they develop another means of metabolism (usually in the form of fermentation).
thank you very much for all the info I doubt I could have had it anywher else You guys rocks. We're working atm on designs of (should I mention totally unrealistic) space travelling creatures. I will post them when they look good enough. We've allready got an utterly rude to physical laws 200 metres long creature I wouldn't want to meet when going out of the space station to walk the dog. Thanks for the links we are going to have a lot of fun. ciao
what the...?????Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! :bugeye: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Anaerobic break down of glucose though the Creb cycle produces about: ~4 ATPs. If you add in an electron ladder (Aerobic) you can get out about ~36 ATPs. So basically anaerobic life does not produce much energy and is why most things slow down, hibernate…
I've done I've done some daydreaming while in class, and since I've been in so many classes I too have thought about space based organisms. First off, is the creature your designing using photosynthesis for energy? If so, then it could be both anabolic and anerobic, anerobics are good when you need alot of energy very quickly. If its threatened it may be able to switch from anabolic stasis to anerobic metabolism using a storage of oxygen. Also nitrogen, that stuff is what boils in your blood when your spaceship blows up and your in space. You either need a creature that doesn't use nitrogen, or have a way to keep the nitrogen from going gasous. I'd say the most realistic large creature for space would be something thats photosynthetic, has tiny hardened points where stored oxygen and hydrogen are expelled and lit by a firing complex of neurons(think the electric eel) for propulsion. It could also use basic solar sailing for low speed migration. Asteroids would be partially consumed, prefferably ones rich in carbon and water for resources.
WellCooked: a little clarification - glycolysis yields about 4 ATP, and Kreb's Cycle (aka Citric Acid Cycle, aka Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle) yields about 28-32 ATP (including the ones gained from the electron transport chain). Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! youngbiologist: is there enough oxygen in space to support a photosynthetic organism? I thought that was the point of having an anaeobic organism for this discussion.
... Photosynthesis does not require oxygen, it requires H20. Any gaseous oxygen/hydrogen could then be used for propulsion, or the oxygen could be used for anaerobic respiration during emergencies.
did you include bodywarmth in the equation? Effective enzymatic reactions usually need a specific temperature. That would mean that your creature needs to maintain a specific body temperature, or should be able to increase its temperature whenever it wishes.
youngbiologist: The definition of aerobic respiration is use of oxygen. If oxygen is involved, then it is aerobic. Another problem with being a photosynthetic organism in space is, unless you are close to a star, the light intensity necessary to run the reaction may not be enough. Plants use the Citric Acid cycle as a back-up for when there is no light, or if they're losing too much water, which requires oxgyen.
How about a life form that lives on asteroids close to a star: Its has little clear bulbs that stick out of the surface of the asteroid will the rested of it is many meter below the surface for radiation coverage. During the day it pumps up a vital fluids into the bulbs to be cooked by heat and radiation from the sun. In the fluid a radical reaction powered by sun light and heat would store energy (just about any radical polymerization would do) at night it can pump the fluids back down and live off the energy stored in it.
I love where this thread is going - keep shooting - I love you sorry I can't reply now this is just a quickie as I'm working my ass off right now...I'll b back in two days with more thuoghts and questions on the subject - if your intersted in the designs we've got so far say so I ll try to find a scanner. Thank you cheers Ant
I notice there are some references to the bacteria found in hydrothermal vents in this thread. However, there is one aspect to their biology that is not often mentioned (though it is sometimes hidden in the scientific vernacular concerning these critters). It could be relevant to your area of interest. These anerobic bacteria represent a departure from the long-held principle that life on Earth is based on photosynthesis. For these bacteria the thermal energy of the Earth is their fuel for producing basic hydrocarbon material at the base of the food chain. You could call it a thermo-synthesis. The reason it can occur there (ocean bottom) is that the high pressure is necessary for the thermal energy "quanta" to have an energy sufficient to support the bonding of the hydrocarbon molecules (the way sunlight does for plants on the surface). Like plants, they need no oxygen for this process. They simply require water, CO2, heat energy, and probably hydrogen sulfide (as a catalyst, somewhat like chlorophyl). When it comes to moving up to higher life forms, however, the catch is that they must have some medium to support them like the water or air. It is possible to discuss a few non-traditional life forms that are connected to such microbe processes. Consider the ice-covered moons of Jupiter, which would have enough water, a hot core (continuously energized by tidal forces), and all the basic elements for hydrocarbon formation. Or look at the subterranean levels of some of the other planets. On Earth these bacteria probably work their little assets off in subterranean cavities making this slime-like hydrocarbon that eventually winds up as oil (following geothermal processing). That of course would mean oil is a continuously renewable resource, but that is another matter altogether.
Spurious.. and, let's not forget to add the reaction time of the specific substrates of those specific enzymes into the equation.. there. that should be specific enough. i hope.
