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Deep in the ocean, a clam that acts like a plant
February 21, 2007How does life survive in the black depths of the ocean? At the surface, sunlight allows green plants to "fix" carbon from the air to build their bodies. Around hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean live communities of giant clams with no gut and no functional digestive system, depending on symbiotic bacteria to use energy locked up in hydrogen sulfide to replace sunlight. Now, the genome of this symbiont has been completely sequenced and published in Science.
"The difference here is that while plants get their energy and carbon via photosynthesis by chloroplast symbionts, this clam gets its energy via chemosynthesis," said Jonathan Eisen, a professor at the UC Davis Genome Center and an author on the paper.
The actual work of photosynthesis in green plants is done by chloroplasts, descended from primitive single-celled organisms that were incorporated into other cells billions of years ago.
"The energy from hydrogen sulfide is used to drive carbon fixation in much the same way that chloroplasts carry out carbon fixation," Eisen said. The symbiotic bacteria also fix nitrogen and produce amino acids, vitamins and other nutrients required by the clam.
Studies of the deep sea have implications for studying the origins of life, Eisen said. Life on Earth may have got its start with microbes living on such chemical reactions, before the evolution of photosynthesis.
"And they're just plain interesting," Eisen added.
If you were thinking that giant clams sound tasty, think again. The hydrogen sulfide gives them a strong smell of rotting eggs.
The senior author on the paper is Colleen Cavanaugh at Harvard University, and the first author is a graduate student in her lab, Irene Newton. The other authors include researchers at Harvard, the Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, Calif., and the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Md.
University of California, Davis
"The energy from hydrogen sulfide is used to drive carbon fixation in much the same way that chloroplasts carry out carbon fixation," Eisen said. The symbiotic bacteria also fix nitrogen and produce amino acids, vitamins and other nutrients required by the clam.
Studies of the deep sea have implications for studying the origins of life, Eisen said. Life on Earth may have got its start with microbes living on such chemical reactions, before the evolution of photosynthesis.
"And they're just plain interesting," Eisen added.
If you were thinking that giant clams sound tasty, think again. The hydrogen sulfide gives them a strong smell of rotting eggs.
The senior author on the paper is Colleen Cavanaugh at Harvard University, and the first author is a graduate student in her lab, Irene Newton. The other authors include researchers at Harvard, the Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, Calif., and the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Md.
University of California, Davis
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UT Knoxville and ORNL researchers turn algae into high-temperature hydrogen source
In the quest to make hydrogen as a clean alternative fuel source, researchers have been stymied about how to create usable hydrogen that is clean and sustainable without relying on an intensive, high-energy process that outweighs the benefits of not using petroleum to power vehicles.
Antarctica glacier retreat creates new carbon dioxide store
Large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula.
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A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found by collaborating scientists at Rutgers University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research.
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Sun or shade: Pecan leaves' photosynthetic light response evaluated
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Reflective film can boost profits for apple growers
In a research report published in a recent issue of HortTechnology, scientists Ignasi Iglesias and Simó Alegre examined the effects of covering orchard floors with reflective films on fruit color, fruit quality, canopy light distribution, orchard temperature, and profitability.
Iron controls patterns of nitrogen fixation in the Atlantic
Scientists including researchers from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton and the University of Essex have discovered that interactions between iron supply, transported through the atmosphere from deserts, and large-scale oceanic circulation control the availability of a crucial nutrient, nitrogen, in the Atlantic.
Heavy metals accumulate more in some mushrooms than in others
A research team from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) has analysed the presence of heavy metals in 12 species of mushroom collected from non-contaminated natural areas, and has found that the levels vary depending on the type of mushroom.
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