Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Aerobic organism
Summary
An aerobic organism or aerobe is an organism that can survive and grow in an oxygenated environment. The ability to exhibit aerobic respiration may yield benefits to the aerobic organism, as aerobic respiration yields more energy than anaerobic respiration. Energy production of the cell involves the synthesis of ATP by an enzyme called ATP synthase. In aerobic respiration, ATP synthase is coupled with an electron transport chain in which oxygen acts as a terminal electron acceptor. In July 2020, marine biologists reported that aerobic microorganisms (mainly), in "quasi-suspended animation", were found in organically poor sediments, up to 101.5 million years old, 250 feet below the seafloor in the South Pacific Gyre (SPG) ("the deadest spot in the ocean"), and could be the longest-living life forms ever found.
Obligate aerobes need oxygen to grow. In a process known as cellular respiration, these organisms use oxygen to oxidize substrates (for example sugars and fats) and generate energy.
Facultative anaerobes use oxygen if it is available, but also have anaerobic methods of energy production.
Microaerophiles require oxygen for energy production, but are harmed by atmospheric concentrations of oxygen (21% O2).
Aerotolerant anaerobes do not use oxygen but are not harmed by it.
When an organism is able to survive in both oxygen and anaerobic environments, the use of the Pasteur effect can distinguish between facultative anaerobes and aerotolerant organisms. If the organism is using fermentation in an anaerobic environment, the addition of oxygen will cause facultative anaerobes to suspend fermentation and begin using oxygen for respiration. Aerotolerant organisms must continue fermentation in the presence of oxygen.
Facultative organisms grow in both oxygen rich media and oxygen free media.
Aerobic organisms use a process called aerobic respiration to create ATP from ADP and a phosphate. Glucose (a monosaccharide) is oxidized to power the electron transport chain:
This equation is a summary of what happens in three series of biochemical reactions: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Ontological neighbourhood
Related courses (10)
ENV-202: Microbiology for engineers
"Microbiology for engineers" covers the main microbial processes that take place in the environment and in treatment systems. It presents elemental cycles that are catalyzed by microorganisms and that
CH-313: Chemical biology
Closely interfacing with bioengineering and medicine, this course provides foundational concepts in applying small-molecule chemical toolsets to probe the functions of living systems at the mechanisti
ChE-437: Bioprocesses and downstream processing
This course aims at a more advanced coverage of the basic aspects discussed in module ChE-311. It is however of a stand-alone nature, and even students who have little knowledge on - but a keen intere
Related lectures (32)
ATP Synthase: Energy Production and Cellular Respiration
Explores ATP synthase, cellular energy production, and monitoring methods.
Microbial Metabolism: Energy Production and Biomass Synthesis
Explores microbial metabolism, focusing on energy production, biomass synthesis, and redox reactions in cells.
Targeting Glycolysis and Cancer Signaling
Explores targeting glycolysis and cancer signaling switches, enzyme inhibition mechanisms, and the role of ATP as the body's energy currency.
Related publications (54)
Related people (20)
Related units (3)
Related concepts (16)
Bacteria
Bacteria (bækˈtɪəriə; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most of its habitats. Bacteria inhabit soil, water, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, and the deep biosphere of Earth's crust. Bacteria play a vital role in many stages of the nutrient cycle by recycling nutrients and the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere.
Oxidative phosphorylation
Oxidative phosphorylation (UK ɒkˈsɪd.ə.tɪv, US ˈɑːk.sɪˌdeɪ.tɪv ) or electron transport-linked phosphorylation or terminal oxidation is the metabolic pathway in which cells use enzymes to oxidize nutrients, thereby releasing chemical energy in order to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In eukaryotes, this takes place inside mitochondria. Almost all aerobic organisms carry out oxidative phosphorylation. This pathway is so pervasive because it releases more energy than alternative fermentation processes such as anaerobic glycolysis.
Anaerobic respiration
Anaerobic respiration is respiration using electron acceptors other than molecular oxygen (O2). Although oxygen is not the final electron acceptor, the process still uses a respiratory electron transport chain. In aerobic organisms undergoing respiration, electrons are shuttled to an electron transport chain, and the final electron acceptor is oxygen. Molecular oxygen is an excellent electron acceptor. Anaerobes instead use less-oxidizing substances such as nitrate (NO3-), fumarate (C4H2O42-), sulfate (SO42-), or elemental sulfur (S).
Related MOOCs (1)
Water quality and the biogeochemical engine
Learn about how the quality of water is a direct result of complex bio-geo-chemical interactions, and about how to use these processes to mitigate water quality issues.