Talk:Chemosynthesis

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Source of carbon

Do the carbon molecules come from organic matter originally? (I am imagining things like natural gas beds created from organics) or are they formed by the pressures and heat of the earth? - Omegatron 15:56, Jan 2, 2005 (UTC)

Chemosynthesis on other planets or moons

Chemosynthesis might also support life on Mars the Jovian moon Europa, and other planets.

This seem to mean that other methods, such as photosynthesis, are unfit for the purpose. Could someone please expand? 203.162.3.147 12:23, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I suspect that the reason for CS on Mars would be the lack of water on the surface. Since life as we know it requires water, life would have to exist below the surface. Europa, of course would be due to lack of light. ZZYZX 02:48, 8 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Chemical

Not everyone is a chem engeneer. Its been a while since high school OAC chem... Can someone explain or create a litle explanation section on the formula. —Preceding unsigned comment added by CyclePat (talk) 04:51, 22 February 2007

The second formula is unbalanced. It should read: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + 3H₂S→C₆H₁₂O₆ + 3H₂SO₄ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.145.240.193 (talk) 14:16, 15 June 2007

I would guess that with all that H2S available, the overall synthetic reaction might more likely be: 6 CO₂ + 12 H₂S = C₆H₁₂O₆ + 12 S + 6 H₂O Oxidation to sulfuric acid is much less exothermic. The energy source driving these reactions is probably: 2 H₂S + O₂ = 2 H₂O + 2 S —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.161.127.109 (talk) 03:45, 12 April 2010

Recent Findings

Science has recently shown tube worms existing at deep sea vents using chemosynthesis on the sulfur in the water.

Took this out because it has no backup and makes little sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.194.3.17 (talk) 16:54, 4 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The "worms" themselves do not use chemosynthesis. The bacteria that they share a symbiotic bond with do. 98.193.121.227 (talk) 23:44, 3 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Redox Potential

According to this: http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Analytical_Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Redox_Chemistry/Standard_Reduction_Potential, reducing sulfur has a positive redox potential, therefore oxidizing H2S has a negative one and that reaction doesn't produce energy making H2S not an energy source. Could someone explain this in the article? Perhaps the conditions near hydrothermal vents change the redox potential? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.207.74.91 (talk • contribs) 19:17, 4 January 2013‎ (EST)

Are you talking about the S->H₂S reaction in that table? Because that's not the only thing that's going on in that reaction; you have the oxygen turning into water and the carbon dioxide turning into carbohydrates. I suspect that when you add the potentials for all three of these, it will give a spontaneous reaction. Antony–22 (^talk⁄_contribs) 04:33, 5 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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Additional Information

Hello,

I believe the following information could be added to make this article more well-rounded. Information on chemosynthesis use by other organisms than the tube worms might be beneficial. More information on the discovery of chemosynthesis, including how researchers could test that organisms perform chemosynthesis. Discovery section is slightly vague and does not provide a lot of background information. Sara Abuzahra (talk) 20:17, 26 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Contested paragraph in the lead

Since 2010 (!), there has been ~~one~~ two commented-out paragraphs in the lead of this article. I am adding them here, with Eric Kvaalen's original comment: "I am commenting this out because the reaction is wrong (it is unbalanced in oxygen) and since there's no reference. Thermodynamically it shouldn't be possible to make glucose and sulfur from CO2, H2S, and water."

The paragraph:

Chemosynthesis may have also been the first type of metabolism that evolved on Earth, leading the way for cellular respiration and photosynthesis to develop later.
Chemosynthetic organisms thrive in extreme conditions as well ==Process== An example of a chemosynthesis reaction using hydrogen sulfide proceeds as follows:

6CO₂ + 6H₂S → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6S

This reaction is used by bacteria inhabiting hydrothermal vents to generate C₆H₁₂O₆, a carbohydrate.

The chemosynthetic reaction 6CO₂ + 6H₂S → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6S also helped to determine that it was water, rather than carbon dioxide, that generated oxygen in photosynthesis. This was because H₂S was seen as analogous to H₂O, and sulfur bacteria produced sulfur rather than oxygen as a metabolic byproduct.

The material was originally added by Insorak in January 2010. Let's discuss here whether the paragraph is factually wrong, or whether there are reliable sources to support it. --bender235 (talk) 17:11, 27 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]