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The Anaerobic Way of Life

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The Prokaryotes

Abstract

Molecular oxygen in appreciable amounts is found only in those areas on earth that are in direct contact with air or are inhabited by organisms carrying out oxygenic photosynthesis. The solubility of oxygen in water is low. In equilibrium with air at 1.013 bar and at 20 °C, pure water will contain approximately 9 mg/l of dissolved oxygen. In aqueous systems, aerobic organisms rapidly consume dissolved oxygen so that deeper layers of many waters and soils (especially if they are rich in organic compounds), as well as mud and sludge, are practically anaerobic. Nevertheless, these areas are inhabited by numerous organisms that fulfill the important ecological role of converting insoluble organic material to soluble compounds and gases that can circulate back into aerobic regions. Other important anaerobic habitats are the rumen, the intestinal tract, and man-made anaerobic digesters of sewage treatment plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Allgemeine Mikrobiologie, Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Ruth A. Schmitz

  2. Department of Genomic and Applied Microbiology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Rolf Daniel

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Uwe Deppenmeier

  4. Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Gerhard Gottschalk

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  1. Ruth A. Schmitz
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  2. Rolf Daniel
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  3. Uwe Deppenmeier
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  4. Gerhard Gottschalk
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Eugene Rosenberg

  2. Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Edward F. DeLong

  3. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Stephen Lory

  4. Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany

    Erko Stackebrandt

  5. Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Fabiano Thompson

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Schmitz, R.A., Daniel, R., Deppenmeier, U., Gottschalk, G. (2013). The Anaerobic Way of Life. In: Rosenberg, E., DeLong, E.F., Lory, S., Stackebrandt, E., Thompson, F. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30123-0_52

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