Microbial metabolism

Microbial metabolism is the set of chemical reactions microorganisms use to obtain energy and build cellular material. It includes energy-generating pathways and the reactions that make cell components.

Fermentation: A metabolic process that produces ATP without an external terminal electron acceptor, typically by transferring electrons to organic molecules. It lets microbes conserve energy when respiration is unavailable.
Metabolism: The network of chemical reactions that sustains life by transforming matter and energy. Microbial metabolism is the diverse microbial expression of this broader network.
Industrial fermentation: The controlled use of microorganisms to manufacture products such as foods, chemicals, and medicines. Engineered microbial pathways turn substrates into useful products at scale.
Aerobic respiration: Cellular respiration that uses oxygen as its terminal electron acceptor. It is one specific respiratory strategy among microbes.
Microbial dark matter: Microorganisms known mainly from environmental genetic data but not yet cultivated or well characterized. Many uncultured microbes have inferred metabolisms that remain experimentally unverified.
Cellular respiration: A process that uses an electron transport chain and a terminal electron acceptor to generate energy. It illustrates how microbes conserve energy through electron transport.
Redox reaction: A chemical reaction in which electrons move between an electron donor and an electron acceptor. Electron transfer powers many microbial energy-conserving pathways.
Bioremediation: The use of organisms or their processes to remove, transform, or contain environmental pollutants. Microbial reactions can detoxify contaminants or change their mobility.
Anaerobic respiration: Cellular respiration that uses a terminal electron acceptor other than oxygen. It distinguishes respiration in oxygen-free environments from fermentation.
Metagenomics: The analysis of genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples. It reveals metabolic potential without requiring microbes to grow in culture.

Linked from 5 pages