Hydrothermal ventA hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspots. Hydrothermal deposits are rocks and mineral ore deposits formed by the action of hydrothermal vents. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both geologically active and has large amounts of water on its surface and within its crust.
ChemotrophA chemotroph is an organism that obtains energy by the oxidation of electron donors in their environments. These molecules can be organic (chemoorganotrophs) or inorganic (chemolithotrophs). The chemotroph designation is in contrast to phototrophs, which use photons. Chemotrophs can be either autotrophic or heterotrophic. Chemotrophs can be found in areas where electron donors are present in high concentration, for instance around hydrothermal vents.
PhotosynthesisPhotosynthesis (ˌfoʊtəˈsɪnθəsɪs ) is a biological process used by many cellular organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy, which is stored in organic compounds that can later be metabolized through cellular respiration to fuel the organism's activities. The term usually refers to oxygenic photosynthesis, where oxygen is produced as a byproduct, and some of the chemical energy produced is stored in carbohydrate molecules such as sugars, starch and cellulose, which are synthesized from endergonic reaction of carbon dioxide with water.
HeterotrophA heterotroph (ˈhɛtərəˌtroʊf,_-ˌtrɒf; ) is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. In the food chain, heterotrophs are primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, but not producers. Living organisms that are heterotrophic include all animals and fungi, some bacteria and protists, and many parasitic plants. The term heterotroph arose in microbiology in 1946 as part of a classification of microorganisms based on their type of nutrition.
OrganismAn organism () is any biological living system that functions as an individual life form. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). The idea of organism is based on the concept of minimal functional unit of life. Three traits have been proposed to play the main role in qualification as an organism: noncompartmentability – structure that cannot be divided without its functionality loss, individuality – the entity has simultaneous holding of genetic uniqueness, genetic homogeneity and autonomy, distinctness – genetic information has to maintain open-system (a cell).
Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphateRibulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) is an organic substance that is involved in photosynthesis, notably as the principal acceptor in plants. It is a colourless anion, a double phosphate ester of the ketopentose (ketone-containing sugar with five carbon atoms) called ribulose. Salts of RuBP can be isolated, but its crucial biological function happens in solution. RuBP occurs not only in plants but in all domains of life, including Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.
Green sulfur bacteriaThe green sulfur bacteria, Chlorobiota, are a phylum of obligately anaerobic photoautotrophic bacteria that metabolize sulfur. Green sulfur bacteria are nonmotile (except Chloroherpeton thalassium, which may glide) and capable of anoxygenic photosynthesis. They live in anaerobic aquatic environments. In contrast to plants, green sulfur bacteria mainly use sulfide ions as electron donors. They are autotrophs that utilize the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle to perform carbon fixation. They are also mixotrophs and reduce nitrogen.
3-Phosphoglyceric acid3-Phosphoglyceric acid (3PG, 3-PGA, or PGA) is the conjugate acid of 3-phosphoglycerate or glycerate 3-phosphate (GP or G3P). This glycerate is a biochemically significant metabolic intermediate in both glycolysis and the Calvin-Benson cycle. The anion is often termed as PGA when referring to the Calvin-Benson cycle. In the Calvin-Benson cycle, 3-phosphoglycerate is typically the product of the spontaneous scission of an unstable 6-carbon intermediate formed upon CO2 fixation.
GlaucophyteThe glaucophytes, also known as glaucocystophytes or glaucocystids, are a small group of unicellular algae found in freshwater and moist terrestrial environments, less common today than they were during the Proterozoic. The stated number of species in the group varies from about 14 to 26. Together with the red algae (Rhodophyta) and the green algae plus land plants (Viridiplantae or Chloroplastida), they form the Archaeplastida.
PseudomonadotaPseudomonadota (synonym Proteobacteria) is a major phylum of Gram-negative bacteria. The renaming of several prokaryote phyla in 2021, including Pseudomonadota, remains controversial among microbiologists, many of whom continue to use the earlier name Proteobacteria, of long standing in the literature. The phylum Proteobacteria includes a wide variety of pathogenic genera, such as Escherichia, Salmonella, Vibrio, Yersinia, Legionella, and many others. Others are free-living (non-parasitic) and include many of the bacteria responsible for nitrogen fixation.
