Great great video. Best I've found on chemoautotrophs. I'm a student learning on my own. I wondered in the formula representing the chemosynthesis of hydrogen sulfide 6:57, are we sure that water isn't a reactant that contributes to the production of formaldehyde?
Great question! So oceanic algae and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis and create a lot of oxygen (especially because most of the earth is ocean covered). But chemosynthesis typically works by oxidizing some chemical to allow them to make food. So chemosynthesis (of which there are several types using different chemicals) typically must USE oxygen and not produce it. And plants or algae don't do chemosynthesis, only certain bacteria can. It is separate from photosynthesis.
This does not resolve where the oxygen came from in the equation at 5:43. Deep ocean water and, more especially, hot ocean water is anoxic - lacking oxygen. Since the chemosynthesis equation involves oxygen, where did that oxygen come from? Also, with oxygen involved, why is this thought to be any different than ordinary metabolization/digestion? You said early in this video, "Photosynthesizers get their energy from the sun." That chain of events results in hydrogen sulfide and methane, meaning that the food eaten by these hydrothermal vent dwellers originated in the same manner as all the foods surface animals eat.
That is one type of chemosynthesis of several, of which some do not require oxygen. That is just one example. It works fine in areas with some available oxygen, which includes most places, even in the deep sea. The base of vents do lack oxygen though as you said, but would have oxygen rather quickly as the water cools and mixes. And it is not digestion as the chemicals it uses are inorganic, so not food. They are assembled to create organic molecules that can then be used as food, just like photosynthesizers use light energy to do.
@@ScienceWithJohnston Cows eat grass. Cows emit methane. As shown by the tubeworm example, methane may then continue directly into another biological system as a food or fuel as part of a continuous biocycle. As for not using oxygen, the most common substitute for oxygen in anoxic situations is nitrogen. Plants feed subterranean microbes sugars in anoxic subsurface conditions to fix nitrogen, which the plants then take up as amino acids to form proteins. Tubeworms may be fixing nitrogen in their 'lungs.' Also, I was surprised at the abundance of crustaceans thriving there. That seems to indicate high oxygen levels. That seems to indicate a source of oxygen constantly replenished - it cannot be a constant population of oxygen, since that oxygen becomes consumed not only by animals but also through reactions with methane, hydrogen sulfide, and other thermal vent/volcanic emissions. Now, if the crayfish can breath just fine, so can the tubeworm. The tubeworm's lung has the double-function of gut, where microbes change fuel into food.
Chemosynthesis is a process, but there are several different ways to complete that process. The most common way is likely 12H2S + 6CO2 → C6H12O6 (carbohydrate) + 6H2O + 12S. So you need CO2 and hydrogen sulfide, but there are other reactants that can work as well depending on the organism we are discussing.
This video really helped me construct my science culminating task! Thank you so much!
Thanks very good video🤓👌🏽finally got the basics of chemosynthesis...
Great great video. Best I've found on chemoautotrophs. I'm a student learning on my own. I wondered in the formula representing the chemosynthesis of hydrogen sulfide 6:57, are we sure that water isn't a reactant that contributes to the production of formaldehyde?
1:42 There are different versions of chemosynthesis.
Love from India 🇮🇳
I heard that chemosynthesis can be aerobic like cell respiration but are not able be produce oxygen.
So Oxygen is not a product of chemosynthesis. But I have heard that ocean plants also give Oxygen.
Great question! So oceanic algae and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis and create a lot of oxygen (especially because most of the earth is ocean covered). But chemosynthesis typically works by oxidizing some chemical to allow them to make food. So chemosynthesis (of which there are several types using different chemicals) typically must USE oxygen and not produce it. And plants or algae don't do chemosynthesis, only certain bacteria can. It is separate from photosynthesis.
@@ScienceWithJohnston thanks a lot for the clarification.
can someone tell me what was the name of the plant that use chemosynthesis?
an underwater plant called "tube worm" uses chemosynthesis and some other bacterias
what grade is this for
This does not resolve where the oxygen came from in the equation at 5:43. Deep ocean water and, more especially, hot ocean water is anoxic - lacking oxygen. Since the chemosynthesis equation involves oxygen, where did that oxygen come from? Also, with oxygen involved, why is this thought to be any different than ordinary metabolization/digestion? You said early in this video, "Photosynthesizers get their energy from the sun." That chain of events results in hydrogen sulfide and methane, meaning that the food eaten by these hydrothermal vent dwellers originated in the same manner as all the foods surface animals eat.
That is one type of chemosynthesis of several, of which some do not require oxygen. That is just one example. It works fine in areas with some available oxygen, which includes most places, even in the deep sea. The base of vents do lack oxygen though as you said, but would have oxygen rather quickly as the water cools and mixes. And it is not digestion as the chemicals it uses are inorganic, so not food. They are assembled to create organic molecules that can then be used as food, just like photosynthesizers use light energy to do.
@@ScienceWithJohnston Cows eat grass. Cows emit methane. As shown by the tubeworm example, methane may then continue directly into another biological system as a food or fuel as part of a continuous biocycle.
As for not using oxygen, the most common substitute for oxygen in anoxic situations is nitrogen. Plants feed subterranean microbes sugars in anoxic subsurface conditions to fix nitrogen, which the plants then take up as amino acids to form proteins. Tubeworms may be fixing nitrogen in their 'lungs.'
Also, I was surprised at the abundance of crustaceans thriving there. That seems to indicate high oxygen levels. That seems to indicate a source of oxygen constantly replenished - it cannot be a constant population of oxygen, since that oxygen becomes consumed not only by animals but also through reactions with methane, hydrogen sulfide, and other thermal vent/volcanic emissions.
Now, if the crayfish can breath just fine, so can the tubeworm. The tubeworm's lung has the double-function of gut, where microbes change fuel into food.
which chemical reactant is necessary in chemosynthesis?
Chemosynthesis is a process, but there are several different ways to complete that process. The most common way is likely 12H2S + 6CO2 → C6H12O6 (carbohydrate) + 6H2O + 12S. So you need CO2 and hydrogen sulfide, but there are other reactants that can work as well depending on the organism we are discussing.