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Bacteria
Published in Julius P. Kreier, Infection, Resistance, and Immunity, 2022
Some bacteria have the capability of synthesizing all of their cellular carbon compounds from carbon dioxide or carbonate and their other nutritional requirements from nonorganic sources, using energy to do so derived either from (A) the oxidation of one of the following nonorganic chemicals: ferrous iron, ammonium, methane, or inorganic sulfur (these organisms are called chemoautotrophs or autotrophs), or (B) light (these organisms are called photoautotrophs or phototrophs).
Changing Circumstances and Diets
Published in Christopher Cumo, Ancestral Diets and Nutrition, 2020
Heterotrophs may be classified by what they eat, with the range of foods determining degree of specialization. Herbivores eat only plants. This category includes specialists like the panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), which derives almost all its nourishment from bamboo (species in subfamily Bambusoideae) leaves, stems, and shoots. Such narrowness poses risks because the staple’s endangerment causes hunger and starvation. Eradication of that food triggers extinction. At the other end of the spectrum are herbivores that eat many species. Elephants (Elephas maximus and Loxodonta africana), for example, consume several plants’ bark, branches, roots, leaves, and fruits. Herbivores feed carnivores. Lions (Panthera leo), for example, target the African savanna’s herbivores. Not necessarily restricted to herbivores, carnivores may also eat other carnivores and omnivores. Carnivory is not unique to animals because the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) and allied plants consume insects. Such organisms are both autotroph and heterotroph.
Organic Matter
Published in Michael J. Kennish, Ecology of Estuaries Physical and Chemical Aspects, 2019
In order to examine the production and biotic transformation of POC in estuaries, it is necessary to briefly review the trophic structure and energy flow of these systems. The estuarine ecosystem consists of biotic communities of organisms and an abiotic environment that are interactive. The flow of energy is such that trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (i.e., the exchange of materials between living and nonliving components) can be defined within the system.64 Based on Lindemannian theory,65 estuarine organisms can be assigned to specific trophic (feeding) levels, which contain groups of organisms that share a common method of obtaining their energy supply.66 Autotrophs occupy the initial trophic level, transforming inorganic compounds into organic material and serving as an energy base for heterotrophic organisms on the remaining trophic levels. Thus, the second trophic level comprises herbivorous animals which consume plants and bacteria; these herbivores are primary consumers or secondary producers. Secondary and tertiary consumers are carnivorous animals found on the third and fourth trophic levels, respectively, with secondary consumers ingesting primary consumers and tertiary consumers feeding on secondary consumers.
Direct and indirect targets of carboxyatractyloside, including overlooked toxicity toward nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) and mitochondrial H+ leak
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2023
Similarly, cyanide, such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), an inhibitor of a terminal oxidase in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, known as complex IV, that affects mitochondrial respiration, may regulate, i.e., inhibit or stimulate, germinability in a concentration-dependent manner (Esashi et al. 1991; Siegień and Bogatek 2006). HCN is produced in certain plant species, including Xanthium spp., during processes, such as the catabolism of cyanogenic glycosides and cyanogenic lipids. Accordingly, in the rhizomes of A. gummifera, the ATR content is increased during the winter (Daniele et al. 2005), which likely helps maintain the plant in a resting state until spring. Therefore, compounds that are extremely toxic to animals and humans have crucial modulatory functions in the ontogenesis of many eukaryotic autotrophs. In addition to ATR/CATR and HCN, the expression level of the delay of germination 1 (dog1) gene, which protein product, among others, indirectly influences the cell wall properties, and some respiration-associated genes, which protein products are indirectly responsible for a potentially high level of energy (ATP) production and, thus, biosynthesis (Nemati et al. 2020, 2022), a burial depth of achenes or seeds, where 15–18 cm may constitute a critical suppression threshold with no seedling emergence, and the amount of mulch (Amini et al. 2020; Saeed et al. 2020) affect the prolonged dormancy or its lack in dimorphic seeds of X. strumarium.
High-throughput method development for in-situ quantification of aquatic phototrophic biofilms
Published in Biofouling, 2022
Maria Papadatou, Mollie Knight, Maria Salta
Aquatic phototrophic biofilms are mixed microbial conglomerations formed and attached to submerged solid surfaces, typically composed by light-driven autotrophs and heterotrophs that are surrounded and stabilized by self- producing extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) (Hoagland et al. 1993; Cooksey and Wigglesworth-Cooksey 1995; Landoulsi et al. 2011). In a nutshell, at the top biofilm phototrophic layer, oxygenic photoautotrophs are prevailing, whilst the internal part of the biofilms consists of heterotrophs (bacteria, protozoa, fungi) and anoxygenic phototrophs (Roeselers et al. 2007; Bharti et al. 2017). Oxygenic photoautotrophs (primary producers) primarily consist of diatoms, green algae, and cyanobacteria that possess photosynthesizing components enabling them to use light energy and reduce carbon dioxide, thus producing oxygen and organic substrates (Roeselers et al. 2007, 2008).
Blautia—a new functional genus with potential probiotic properties?
Published in Gut Microbes, 2021
Xuemei Liu, Bingyong Mao, Jiayu Gu, Jiaying Wu, Shumao Cui, Gang Wang, Jianxin Zhao, Hao Zhang, Wei Chen
Blautia species are strictly anaerobic, non-motile, 1.0–1.5 × 1.0–3.0 μm in size, usually spherical or oval, and appear in pairs or strands, with most strains being sporeless. The optimum temperature and pH for most Blautia strains are 37°C and 7.0, respectively.11 Some species such as B. producta possess both heterotrophic and autotrophic properties and can use CO, H2/CO2, and carbohydrates as energy sources.34 Carbohydrate utilization experiments have shown that all Blautia strains can use glucose, but different strains showed different abilities to use sucrose, fructose, lactose, maltose, rhamnose, and raffinose (Table 2). The final products of glucose fermentation by Blautia are acetic acid, succinic acid, lactic acid, and ethanol, and the main biochemical tests have revealed negative results for lecithin, lipase, catalase, and indole. The long-chain fatty acids produced by Blautia strains are classified into linearly saturated and monounsaturated types, with C14:0, C16:0, and C16:00 dimethyl acetal fatty acids as the main species. The GC content of Blautia DNA is 37–47 mol%, and the type species of this genus is B. coccoides.11