Ask A Scientist© Biology Archive

name         Ellen
status       student
age    15

Question -   i was in my Biology class and a very respectable
someone mentioned something about the discovery of a
hydrogen based bacteria. my teacher wasnt aware of
this study, and assigned me to find out about it. so i
thought i would Email you and see if you people knew
anything about it. Awaiting your repsonse
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I'm not quite sure what you mean by hydrogen based bacteria but I will take a
stab that you mean bacteria that use hydrogen for energy.  Some bacteria are
chemolithotrophs which mean that they are autrophs but don't use the sun as
their energy source; they get their energy from chemical sources.  There are
bacteria that use hydrogen as their energy source.  They are diverse as a
group and are all facultative.  The overall chemical reaction looks like this:
     4H20  +  2O2-----> 4H20
     2H2  + CO2-----> (CH20) + H2O
     6H2  + 2O2  + CO2 ----> (CH2O)   + 5 H2O

So the oxidation of four H2   to water yields enough energy to allow the
synthesis fo cell material(carbohydrate)  from CO2 + H2

If this is not what you meant, let me know.

Van Hoeck
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