Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The synthesis of organic compounds by certain bacteria, especially in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, using energy obtained from the chemical oxidation of simple inorganic compounds. Chemosynthesis is thought to have been used by the first forms of life on Earth.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The formation of carbohydrates out of inorganic compounds by an organism in darkness or in the absence of sunlight: contrasted with *photosynthesis.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Plant Physiol.) Synthesis of organic compounds by energy derived from chemical changes or reactions.
Chemosynthesis of carbohydrates occurs in the nitrite bacteria through the oxidation of ammonia to nitrous acid, and in the nitrate bacteria through the conversion of nitrous into nitric acid.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the
production ofcarbohydrates and othercompounds fromsimple compounds such ascarbon dioxide , using theoxidation ofchemical nutrients as asource ofenergy rather thansunlight ; it is limited to certainbacteria andfungi
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun synthesis of carbohydrate from carbon dioxide and water; limited to certain bacteria and fungi
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Other autotrophs use inorganic compounds instead of sunlight to make food; process known as chemosynthesis
Recently Uploaded Slideshows guest7d8a25 2009
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Rather, the organisms of these ecosystems function through "chemosynthesis".
Larval Subjects . 2009
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Then again, the absence of a preferred chemosynthesis pathway that formic acid photosynthesis impress, means that the old "chicken-and-egg" paradox of "what came first, enzymes or metabolism" that it promise to resolve remains.
New Results from Stardust Mission Paint Chaotic Picture of Early Solar System | Universe Today 2010
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Is a most interesting statement! indicating exact/precise measurements of the solar wind as cold fusion chemosynthesis driver?
Ozone on Mars: Two Windows Better Than One | Universe Today 2010
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Lots of tube worms, clam beds sitting on barren rock but when we opened them their body had taken over by a bacteria that uses chemosynthesis, not photosynthesis.
Boing Boing 2008
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Instead of photosynthesis, there is chemosynthesis.
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Soil chemosynthesis (nitrifying, hydrogen-oxidizing, iron (Fe2+) - oxidizing, and sulfur c (S) bacteria)
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With the "billions and billions" of stars and their attendant planets, surely some form of photosynthesis and/or chemosynthesis would occur out there.
Dan Dubno: The End is Near: What's Your Personal Apocalypse? 2009
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However, the starting point for almost all substrates is the primary production of organic matter by plant photosynthesis or (occasionally) bacterial chemosynthesis.
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These organisms derive their energy through chemosynthesis of volcanic sulfur compounds and warm water solution dripping down from above.
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The study also reveals that the bacteria can use manganese to convert carbon dioxide into biomass, a process called chemosynthesis.
Bacteria with a metal diet discovered in dirty glassware Science X 2020
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It turned out to be “chemosynthesis,” in which bacteria oxidize inorganic materials, primarily hydrogen sulfide, in chemical reactions that in turn provide the energy to sustain higher life forms.
How Deep Does Life Go? The MIT Press Reader 2024
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