2. MICROBIAL METABOLISMS

MICROBIAL METABOLISMS
All microbial metabolisms can be arranged according to three principles:
1. How the organism obtains carbon for synthesizing cell mass?
 • autotrophic – carbon is obtained from carbon dioxide (CO2)
• heterotrophic – carbon is obtained from organic compounds
• mixotrophic – carbon is obtained from both organic compounds and by fixing carbon
dioxide
2. How the organism obtains reducing equivalents used either in energy conservation or in
biosynthetic reactions:
 • lithotrophic – reducing equivalents are obtained from inorganic compounds
• organotrophic – reducing equivalents are obtained from organic compounds
3. How the organism obtains energy for living and growing:
 • chemotrophic – energy is obtained from external chemical compounds
• phototrophic – energy is obtained from light.
• chemolithoautotrophs obtain energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds and

carbon from the fixation of carbon dioxide. Examples: Nitrifying bacteria, Sulfur-
oxidizing bacteria, Iron-oxidizing bacteria, Knallgas-bacteria
• photolithoautotrophs obtain energy from light and carbon from the fixation of carbon
dioxide, using reducing equivalents from inorganic compounds. Examples:
Cyanobacteria (water (H2O) as reducing equivalent donor), Chlorobiaceae,
Chromatiaceae (hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as reducing equivalent donor), Chloroflexus
(hydrogen (H2) as reducing equivalent donor)
• chemolithoheterotrophs obtain energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds, but

cannot fix carbon dioxide (CO2). Examples: some Thiobacilus, some Beggiatoa, some
Nitrobacter spp., Wolinella (with H2 as reducing equivalent donor), some Knallgas-
bacteria, some sulfate-reducing bacteria
• chemoorganoheterotrophs obtain energy, carbon, and reducing equivalents for

biosynthetic reactions from organic compounds. Examples: most bacteria, e. g.
Escherichia coli, Bacillus spp., Actinobacteria
• photoorganoheterotrophs obtain energy from light, carbon and reducing equivalents
for biosynthetic reactions from organic compounds. Some species are strictly
heterotrophic, many others can also fix carbon dioxide and are mixotrophic. Examples:
Rhodobacter, Rhodopseudomonas, Rhodospirillum, Rhodomicrobium, Rhodocyclus,
Helioba
THE GENERATION OF ATP:
Much of the energy released during oxidation – reduction reactions is trapped within the cell by
the formation of ATP. A phosphate group is added to ADP with the input of energy to form
ATP. Addition of a phosphate to a chemical compound is called phosphorylation. Organisms
use three mechanisms of phosphorylation to generate ATP from ADP.
Substrate – level phosphorylation: ATP is generated when a high energy phosphate is directly
transferred from a phosphorylated compound (a substrate) to ADP. Generally the phosphate has
acquired its energy during an earlier reaction in which the substrate itself was oxidized.
C-C-C~ P + ADP C-C-C + ATP
Oxidative phosphorylation: Electrons are transferred from organic compounds to one group of
electron carriers (usually to NAD+ and FAD). Then, the electrons are passed through a series of
different electron carriers to molecules of O 2 or other oxidized inorganic and organic molecules.
This process occurs in the plasma membrane of prokaryotes and in the inner mitochondrial
membrane of eukaryotes. The sequence of electron carriers used in oxidative phosphorylation is
called an electron transport chain. The transfer of electrons from one electron carrier to the next
releases energy, some of which is used to generate ATP from ADP through a process called
chemiosmosis.
Photophosphorylation: Occurs only in photosynthetic cells which contain light-trapping

pigments such as chlorophylls. In photosynthesis, organic molecules, especially sugars, are
synthesized with the energy of light from the energy-poor building blocks CO 2 and H2O.
Photophosphorylation starts this process by converting light energy to the chemical energy of
ATP and NADPH, which in turn, are used to synthesize organic molecules. As in oxidative
phosphorylation, an electron transport chain is involved.

2. MICROBIAL METABOLISMS

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2. MICROBIAL METABOLISMS

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MICROBIAL METABOLISMS

All microbial metabolisms can be arranged according to three principles:

1. How the organism obtains carbon for synthesizing cell mass?

 • autotrophic – carbon is obtained from carbon dioxide (CO2)

• heterotrophic – carbon is obtained from organic compounds

 • lithotrophic – reducing equivalents are obtained from inorganic compounds

• organotrophic – reducing equivalents are obtained from organic compounds

3. How the organism obtains energy for living and growing:

 • chemotrophic – energy is obtained from external chemical compounds

• phototrophic – energy is obtained from light.

• chemolithoautotrophs obtain energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds and

• chemolithoheterotrophs obtain energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds, but

• chemoorganoheterotrophs obtain energy, carbon, and reducing equivalents for

THE GENERATION OF ATP:

C-C-C~ P + ADP C-C-C + ATP

Photophosphorylation: Occurs only in photosynthetic cells which contain light-trapping

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