Widespread occurrence of dissolved oxygen anomalies, aerobic microbes, and oxygen-producing metabolic pathways in apparently anoxic environments.

ABSTRACT: Nearly all molecular oxygen (O2) on Earth is produced via oxygenic photosynthesis by plants or photosynthetically active microorganisms. Light-independent O2 production, which occurs both abiotically, e.g. through water radiolysis, or biotically, e.g. through the dismutation of nitric oxide or chlorite, has been thought to be negligible to the Earth system. However, recent work indicates that O2 is produced and consumed in dark and apparently anoxic environments at a much larger scale than assumed. Studies have shown that isotopically light O2 can accumulate in old groundwaters, that strictly aerobic microorganisms are present in many apparently anoxic habitats, and that microbes and metabolisms that can produce O2 without light are widespread and abundant in diverse ecosystems. Analysis o

SUBMITTER: Ruff SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11549561 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature