How are bacteria, iron, and oxygen connected? How does this connect with earth and its biology?
There is an interesting connection among the three. It started more than 2 billion years ago when oxygen-producing photosynthesis evolved in the cyanobacteria. Oxygen is a waste product of photosynthesis. The rise in the oceanic oxygen cause two major effects. The first was the precipitation of iron from ocean water. The oxygen caused the iron atoms in the water to precipitate as rust. This process led to the banded iron formations that provided much of the world's iron ore. However, the loss of iron from the water means that iron is a limiting factor in the amount of life in the ocean. Another effect was the massive killing of bacteria that could not live in the presence of the oxygen. These were the anaerobic bacteria, and many of them survive today hidden from oxygen. This mass extinction provided an opportunity for any bacterium that could use the oxygen. The aerobic bacteria then grew in large numbers. One of these bacteria was and still is the mycobacterium. They use the oxygen for their metabolism. One branch of the mycobacteria became the mitochondria found in all cells of multicellular organisms as well as in single cell eukaryotic life forms. The mitochondria provide two services to the cells it which they reside. First, they supply a lot of energy to the cell by the process of oxidative phosphorylation. Second, they remove the oxygen, which is toxic to cells in when the partial pressure is high enough. (Human cells suffer oxidative damage from oxygen when its partial pressure is greater than one atmosphere, for example when a scuba diver breathing compressed air goes below 130 feet in the ocean.) I hope that this is sufficient.
Iron is the molecule in hemoglobin that Oxygen attaches to. Oxygen has been a bi-product of certain bacteria as carbon dioxide also, which of course is used by plants to make oxygen and food for themselves.
There is an interesting connection among the three. It started more than 2 billion years ago when oxygen-producing photosynthesis evolved in the cyanobacteria. Oxygen is a waste product of photosynthesis. The rise in the oceanic oxygen cause two major effects. The first was the precipitation of iron from ocean water. The oxygen caused the iron atoms in the water to precipitate as rust. This process led to the banded iron formations that provided much of the world's iron ore. However, the loss of iron from the water means that iron is a limiting factor in the amount of life in the ocean. Another effect was the massive killing of bacteria that could not live in the presence of the oxygen. These were the anaerobic bacteria, and many of them survive today hidden from oxygen. This mass extinction provided an opportunity for any bacterium that could use the oxygen. The aerobic bacteria then grew in large numbers. One of these bacteria was and still is the mycobacterium. They use the oxygen for their metabolism. One branch of the mycobacteria became the mitochondria found in all cells of multicellular organisms as well as in single cell eukaryotic life forms. The mitochondria provide two services to the cells it which they reside. First, they supply a lot of energy to the cell by the process of oxidative phosphorylation. Second, they remove the oxygen, which is toxic to cells in when the partial pressure is high enough. (Human cells suffer oxidative damage from oxygen when its partial pressure is greater than one atmosphere, for example when a scuba diver breathing compressed air goes below 130 feet in the ocean.) I hope that this is sufficient.
Clostridium tetani is a bacteria that causes tetanus in humans. Tetanus is a condition also referred to as lockjaw. Clostridium tetani are Gram-positive, spore-forming rods that are anaerobic. If they enter the body through a wound, they can multiply and produce a toxin that effects the nerves and controls the activity of muscles. C. tetani spores can be acquired from any type of injury involving an infected device. Being punctured by a rusty nail is a common the source of an infection, but infections can also occur from a wound, a burn, an ulcer, a compound fracture, operative wounds (aquired during operations), or a drug injection. If an anaerobic environment is present, the spores will germinate and form active cells. You have to remember, though, that rust by itself dont cause tetanus. The rust must carry C. tetani spores.
Clostridium tetani is a bacteria that causes tetanus in humans. Tetanus is a condition also referred to as lockjaw. Clostridium tetani are Gram-positive, spore-forming rods that are anaerobic. If they enter the body through a wound, they can multiply and produce a toxin that effects the nerves and controls the activity of muscles. C. tetani spores can be acquired from any type of injury involving an infected device. Being punctured by a rusty nail is a common the source of an infection, but infections can also occur from a wound, a burn, an ulcer, a compound fracture, operative wounds (aquired during operations), or a drug injection. If an anaerobic environment is present, the spores will germinate and form active cells. You have to remember, though, that rust by itself dont cause tetanus. The rust must carry C. tetani spores.
Iron is the molecule in hemoglobin that Oxygen attaches to. Oxygen has been a bi-product of certain bacteria as carbon dioxide also, which of course is used by plants to make oxygen and food for themselves.
