[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

No, the tube worms eat the excess carbohydrates made by the bacteria, they then use oxygen dissolved in the sea water to metabolize the food made by the bacteria. an amazing number of people including scientists make this mistake. This has become an assumed part of science even though it is wrong. Only the bacteria are chemo-synthetic, the worms still need oxygen like any other complex animal. The people who first reported this knew what they were talking about but many of the people who later repeated this phenomenon misunderstood and this misunderstanding has been passed around so much very few people know what is really going on. Oxygen, all complex animals have to have it, it is produced by plants using the sun. No other process makes any significant amounts of free oxygen.

I'd like to see some sources, as what you say runs counter to everything I have read on the subject both today & previously. Pony up.

[Moontanman]

The bright red color of the plume structures results from several extraordinarily complex hemoglobins found in them, which contain 24 or 144 globin chains (presumably each including associated heme structures). These tube worm hemoglobins are remarkable for being able to carry oxygen in the presence of sulfide, and indeed do also carry sulfide, without being completely "poisoned" or inhibited by this molecule, as hemoglobins in most other species are.

Giant tube worm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How do tube worms breathe down there in that environment? Do they respire aerobically?
Brittany Janz , Anacortes High School, Anacortes, WA (Mrs. Swanson’s class)

Hello, Brittany, Sounds like you’ve been studying how cells work. As you know every cell in an organism needs energy for metabolism. They need several things to do this. Two of them are an energy-rich compound and an electron acceptor, like oxygen, that helps release the energy in the compound. Human cells get much of their energy from energy-rich glucose when it is broken down with the help of oxygen. Oxygen is one of several substances that help release energy by accepting electrons. As I think you know, when oxygen is used as an electron acceptor we call this process aerobic respiration. How does this apply to those weird and wonderful tube worms near hydrothermal vents? First of all these amazing organisms can’t eat for themselves since they don’t have a mouth or a digestive track. They depend instead on the food from tiny bacteria living within them in a special tissue called a trophosome. The bacteria manufacture food from the sulfide compounds in the hydrothermal fluid and share some of it with their host. The tube worm does its part by delivering oxygen to the bacteria by means of a well-developed circulatory system that includes the bright red plume that collects oxygen from the water. Because the oxygen-carrying compound, hemoglobin, is the same one we humans use, the color of tubeworm blood is bright red like ours. And since they (and their symbiotic bacteria) are using oxygen as an electron acceptor, we would consider this aerobic respiration.

VISIONS '05/questions/Recent Questions

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Giant tube worm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The bright red color of the plume structures results from several extraordinarily complex hemoglobins found in them, which contain 24 or 144 globin chains (presumably each including associated heme structures). These tube worm hemoglobins are remarkable for being able to carry oxygen in the presence of sulfide, and indeed do also carry sulfide, without being completely "poisoned" or inhibited by this molecule, as hemoglobins in most other species are.

VISIONS '05/questions/Recent Questions

Mmmmm...moderately convincing. I'll get my saddle. However, sulphides are what? SO2? Does this oxygen remain bound to the sulphur or does it get into the animal energy business along with O that's in the water?

Originally Posted by HOLGER W. lANNASCH

...These deep sea vents and the entire cycling of seawater through the upper
3 km of the Earth's crust are powered by the consecutive cooling-contraction
and warming-expansion processes. In comparison to the weathering cycle
and mineral dispersion by runoff from the continents, the hydrothermal
cycle is only about 0.5% of the total river flow but about 200 times higher
in mineral content (Edmond and Von Damm, 1983)...

http://dge.stanford.edu/SCOPE/SCOPE_...ch_181-190.pdf

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Mmmmm...moderately convincing. I'll get my saddle. However, sulphides are what? SO2? Does this oxygen remain bound to the sulphur or does it get into the animal energy business along with O that's in the water?

http://dge.stanford.edu/SCOPE/SCOPE_...ch_181-190.pdf

Sulfides are sulfur hydrogen compounds H2S, sulfates are sulfur oxygen compounds. the oxygen being used for respiration is O2 from the water. H2S is used by the bacteria, it comes from the vents, oxygen comes from the water and from the atmosphere provided by plants. the bacteria directly in the vents do not use O2, they are anaerobic. I'm not completely clear about the bacteria in the worms, i would think they are anaerobic as well and the worms use O2 to "eat" the food the worms make.

[freeztar]

I'm very familiar with production in anaerobic conditions, but I'm not familiar with bacteria that utilize . Can you recommend some material I could read regarding this?

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by freeztar

I'm very familiar with production in anaerobic conditions, but I'm not familiar with bacteria that utilize . Can you recommend some material I could read regarding this?

Purple sulfur bacteria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Green sulfur bacteria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bacterial Solutions to Hydrogen Sulfide Odors

[freeztar]

Thank you.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Sulfides are sulfur hydrogen compounds H2S, sulfates are sulfur oxygen compounds. the oxygen being used for respiration is O2 from the water. H2S is used by the bacteria, it comes from the vents, oxygen comes from the water and from the atmosphere provided by plants. the bacteria directly in the vents do not use O2, they are anaerobic. I'm not completely clear about the bacteria in the worms, i would think they are anaerobic as well and the worms use O2 to "eat" the food the worms make.

Well, see, I'm no chemist & can only go on what I read. Seems a lot of what I read is in disagreement. Not completely clear indeed.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: sulfur dioxide

Inorganic compound, heavy, colourless, poisonous gas (SO2). It has a pungent, irritating odour (the smell of a just-struck match). It occurs in volcanic gases and dissolved in the waters of some warm springs. ...

sulfur dioxide: Definition from Answers.com

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Well, see, I'm no chemist & can only go on what I read. Seems a lot of what I read is in disagreement. Not completely clear indeed.

sulfur dioxide: Definition from Answers.com

You are confusing sulfides with sulfates, Sulfates are SO2, sulfides are H2S. be specific, what is not clear?

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

You are confusing sulfides with sulfates, Sulfates are SO2, sulfides are H2S. be specific, what is not clear?

It's not clear if you read any more at the link I quoted from, and as I say I'm not great at chemistry. I'm looking for some helpful information, but perhaps I'm not familiar enough with the nomenclature to make the best searches.

Originally Posted by HOLGER W. lANNASCH

The search for submarine volcanism, based on the newly emerging concept of plate tectonics, led in 1977 to the discovery of sulphide-containing warm and hot springs or vents at ocean floor spreading zones. These areas of hydrothermal water circulation through the Earth's crust greatly affect the chemistry of seawater. Estimation of fluxes has been based on the present composition of seawater. The estimated rate of sulphide emission as compared to the seawater (sulphate) entrainment, as well as the various chemical and biological sulphur transformations determining its deposition as polymetal sulphides and anhydrites, are significant with respect to the global sulphur cycle. This report briefly presents the information so far available on deep sea hydrothermal conversions of sulphur. ...

http://dge.stanford.edu/SCOPE/SCOPE_...ch_181-190.pdf