When I did grad work in microbiology I was struck by the fact that there is nothing, apparently, so toxic or gross that some microbe won't find a way to live on it.
Can't open the link here, but I've done a decent amount of research (sounds similar to crandc's, just not as formal ) on fungi/mycelium and its capabilities for environmental cleanup, to include radioactive amd heavy toxic materials, and render them innocuous or even beneficial. There is so much that we don't know about the natural environment, yet we spend tons of resources on knockiff synthetic stuff that has its own 2nd-order effects. /hippierant
New study by the University of Halle: These Bacteria produce gold by digesting toxic metals High concentrations of heavy metals, like copper and gold, are toxic for most living creatures. This is not the case for the bacterium C. metallidurans, which has found a way to extract valuable trace elements from a compound of heavy metals without poisoning itself. One interesting side-effect: the formation of tiny gold nuggets. A team of researchers from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Adelaide in Australia has discovered the molecular processes that take place inside the bacteria. The group presented their findings in the renowned journal "Metallomics" published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Journal reference: Wiesemann N, Bütof L, Herzberg M, Hause G, Berthold L, Etschmann B, Brugger J, Martinez-Criado G, Dobritzsch D, Baginsky S, Reith F, Nies DH. Synergistic toxicity of copper and gold compounds in Cupriavidus metallidurans. Appl Environ Microbiol 83:e01679-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01679-17 Link: http://aem.asm.org/content/83/23/e01679-17.abs Abstract: The bacterium Cupriavidus metallidurans can reduce toxic gold(I/III) complexes and biomineralize them into metallic gold (Au) nanoparticles, thereby mediating the (trans)formation of Au nuggets. In Au-rich soils, most transition metals do not interfere with the resistance of this bacterium to toxic mobile Au complexes and can be removed from the cell by plasmid-encoded metal efflux systems. Copper is a noticeable exception: the presence of Au complexes and Cu ions results in synergistic toxicity, which is accompanied by an increased cytoplasmic Cu content and formation of Au nanoparticles in the periplasm. The periplasmic Cu-oxidase CopA was not essential for formation of the periplasmic Au nanoparticles. As shown with the purified and reconstituted Cu efflux system CupA, Au complexes block Cu-dependent release of phosphate from ATP by CupA, indicating inhibition of Cu transport. Moreover, Cu resistance of Au-inhibited cells was similar to that of mutants carrying deletions in the genes for the Cu-exporting PIB1-type ATPases. Consequently, Au complexes inhibit export of cytoplasmic Cu ions, leading to an increased cellular Cu content and decreased Cu and Au resistance. Uncovering the biochemical mechanisms of synergistic Au and Cu toxicity in C. metallidurans explains the issues this bacterium has to face in auriferous environments, where it is an important contributor to the environmental Au cycle. IMPORTANCE C. metallidurans lives in metal-rich environments, including auriferous soils that contain a mixture of toxic transition metal cations. We demonstrate here that copper ions and gold complexes exert synergistic toxicity because gold ions inhibit the copper-exporting P-type ATPase CupA, which is central to copper resistance in this bacterium. Such a situation should occur in soils overlying Au deposits, in which Cu/Au ratios usually are ≫1. Appreciating how C. metallidurans solves the problem of living in environments that contain both Au and Cu is a prerequisite to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying gold cycling in the environment, and the significance and opportunities of microbiota for specific targeting to Au in mineral exploration and ore processing.
It's animal kingdom vs. human kind - the war nobody talks about. With electric eels handling energy, dogs moderating communication and these guys doing finance - human kind is doomed. It's time to build a wall.
Have I got this right? These bacterium can reconstruct elements into another element or elements? Is there another example of this process in any other living species? With any element?
What do they look like Sly! Give me a description and we'll find them! This place is teeming with bacteria!
Isn't that less impressive than what photosynthesis is? Asking for a friend. In theory this is much less than photosynthesis - it is just a way to clean junk and sort it - there is no real transformation there.
Well I claim no expertise in this at all. But I think the thing that differs here to me is changing elements into other elements. As opposed to changing molecules of compound into other compounds. I may be wrong but I don't know of a living organism that can reconstruct elements.
It doesn't change one element into another; it secretes gold from a pile of toxic stuff, changing it from one chemical form to another. It's not the proverbial "base metals into gold".
This is sexism. I told you the same in post #15 but you had to have crandc validate it to become real! Sad.
