''For the nuclear fusion process producing helium from hydrogen see
Proton-proton chain reaction''
'
Hydrogen' is one of the constituents of
water. It recycles as in other
biogeochemical cycles. It is actively involved with the other cycles like the
carbon cycle,
nitrogen cycle and
sulfur cycle as well.
Anaerobic fermentation of organic substances to
carbon dioxide and
methane is a collaborative effort involving many different biochemical reactions, processes and species of
microorganisms. One of these many processes that occur is termed "interspecies hydrogen transfer". This process has been described as integral to the
symbiosis between certain methane-producing bacteria (
methanogens) and nonmethanogenic anaerobes. In this symbiosis, the nonmethanogenic anaerobes degrade the organic substance and produce -among other things- molecular hydrogen (H
2). This hydrogen is then taken up by methanogens and converted to methane via
methanogenesis. One important characteristic of interspecies hydrogen transfer is that the H
2 concentration in the microbial environment is very low. Maintaining a low hydrogen concentration is important because the anaerobic fermentative process become increasingly thermodynamically unfavorable as the partial pressure of hydrogen increases.
External links
★
A Lecture
References
1. "Microbiology and Biochemistry of Strict Anaerobes Involved in Interspecies Hydrogen Transfer" by Jean-Pierre Bélaich; Mireille Bruschi; Jean-Louis Garcia; Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published Nov 1990. ISBN 0306435179
2.
[1] F.A.M. de Bok, C.M. Plugge, and A.J.M. Stams; "Interspecies eletron transfer in methanogenic proprionate degrading consortia". Water Research 38 (2004): 1368-1375
3.
[2] A.J.M. Stams et al., "Exocellular electron transfer in anaerobic microbial communities", Environmental Microbiology, 8 (2006):371-382