Some tiny life lives in the dark.
They do not need the sun. They make food from rocks and water. This helps many animals grow. It is a neat way to live! Can you imagine living in the dark?
Some tiny life lives in the dark.
They do not need the sun. Instead, they make food from things like gas and rocks.
This is a special way to live. They take air and use energy from the water.
This helps many animals grow.
It can even happen deep in the ocean. This helps life thrive in the dark. It is a neat way to live!
Most life on Earth needs sunlight to grow. This is called photosynthesis. But some tiny life forms do not need the sun. They use a different way to make food. This way is called chemosynthesis.
In chemosynthesis, tiny life uses chemicals for power. They take molecules like carbon dioxide and turn them into food. They get the power they need from things like hydrogen gas. Some also use hydrogen sulfide or ammonia. This often happens in the dark parts of the ocean.
Many animals live near hot vents on the ocean floor. These vents are called hydrothermal vents. Giant tube worms live there. They do not have a gut to hold food. Instead, they have bacteria inside them. These bacteria use hydrogen sulfide to make sugars for the worms. This process can leave behind small yellow bits of sulfur.
Scientists think this might be how life first began on Earth. It might even happen on other worlds. Some think life could live under the ice on Europa. This is a moon of Jupiter.
Chemosynthesis is a special way that some living things make food. Most plants use sunlight to grow through photosynthesis. However, some tiny life forms do not need the sun at all. They use chemosynthesis to turn molecules like carbon dioxide into organic matter. They get their energy from inorganic compounds. These can be things like hydrogen gas or hydrogen sulfide. This process allows life to thrive in very dark places.
How does this way of making food work? It happens in a few different steps. First, these tiny organisms take in carbon dioxide or methane. Then, they use energy from chemicals to change those molecules. For example, some use hydrogen gas to create methane. Others use substances like ammonia or hydrogen sulfide. This can happen even if there is no oxygen around. Instead of making oxygen like plants do, some create solid sulfur. You might even see yellow sulfur bits inside some bacteria.
Scientists have studied this for a long time. In the 1880s, Sergei Winogradsky studied bacteria in Europe. He found that some microbes live on inorganic matter. Later, in 1897, Wilhelm Pfeffer gave us the name "chemosynthesis." This name describes using chemical energy to build food. In the 1970s, people found hot vents on the ocean floor. A deep-sea machine called Alvin found these vents in 1977. This was at the Galapagos Rift.
There are many amazing places where chemosynthesis happens. Huge groups of animals live near hydrothermal vents. They also live near methane clathrates and cold seeps. Some live in whale falls or isolated caves. In 2013, researchers found bacteria living inside the oceanic crust. These bacteria live in the rock below the seafloor. They use hydrogen from the rock to make methane. This shows that life can find a way almost anywhere.
This discovery helps us understand our own world. It might even help us find life in space. Some scientists think life could live on Mars. They also think life could exist on Europa. Europa is a moon of Jupiter that has ice. Chemosynthesis might have been the very first way life worked on Earth. It paved the way for all other life to follow. Understanding these tiny microbes helps us learn about the whole universe.
Chemosynthesis is a biological process used by certain organisms to create food. While most life on Earth relies on photosynthesis, which uses sunlight, chemosynthesis uses chemical energy instead. This process involves the biological conversion of carbon-containing molecules into organic matter. These molecules are usually carbon dioxide or methane. To drive this conversion, organisms oxidize inorganic compounds. Examples of these compounds include hydrogen gas, hydrogen sulfide, or ferrous ions. This ability allows life to thrive in environments where sunlight cannot reach.
The mechanism of chemosynthesis relies on specific chemical reactions to produce biomass. In some rare locations, hydrogen molecules (H2) are available. When these molecules react with carbon dioxide (CO2), they can produce methane (CH4). This reaction releases enough energy to drive the production of organic matter. In most other oceanic environments, the energy comes from oxidizing substances like ammonia or hydrogen sulfide. This can occur even in environments that lack oxygen. One specific example involves the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide. In this reaction, 18 molecules of hydrogen sulfide react with 6 molecules of carbon dioxide and 3 molecules of oxygen. This process results in the production of a carbohydrate, 12 molecules of water, and 18 molecules of solid sulfur.
Scientists classify these organisms into different groups based on how they function. Chemoautotrophs are organisms that obtain their carbon specifically from carbon dioxide through chemosynthesis. These organisms are phylogenetically diverse, meaning they belong to many different evolutionary branches. Notable groups include the sulfur-oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria and the Campylobacterota. Other important groups are the Aquificota, methanogenic archaea, and neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria. Some researchers also use the broader term chemotrophy. This term, introduced by André Lwoff in the 1940s, describes energy production from the oxidation of electron donors, whether they are organic or inorganic.
The history of this discovery spans several decades of scientific research. In the 1880s, Sergei Winogradsky conducted physiological research in Strasbourg and Zürich. He studied sulfur, iron, and nitrogen bacteria and proposed a process called "anorgoxydant." He suggested that some microbes could live entirely on inorganic matter. In 1897, Wilhelm Pfeffer coined the term "chemosynthesis." He used it to describe energy production through the oxidation of inorganic substances combined with carbon dioxide assimilation. Winogradsky's ideas were confirmed nearly 90 years later. In 1977, the deep-sea submersible Alvin discovered hydrothermal vents at the Galapagos Rift.
Following the discovery of hydrothermal vents, researchers began to understand the complex ecosystems they support. Colleen Cavanaugh proposed that chemosynthetic bacteria oxidizing sulfides or sulfur allowed tube worms to survive. She later confirmed this mechanism, and she is often credited with the discovery of chemosynthesis. These chemosynthetic processes support massive populations of animals. They can be found at hydrothermal vents, methane clathrates, and cold seeps. They also support life at whale falls and in isolated cave water. In 2013, scientists found bacteria living within the oceanic crust itself. These bacteria live in the basalt of the crust below thick sediment layers. They produce methane by combining hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
Chemosynthesis provides unique visual and biological evidence of its own occurrence. For instance, some bacteria, like purple sulfur bacteria, are capable of chemoautotrophy. In these organisms, you can actually see yellow globules of sulfur inside the cytoplasm. This happens because the process produces solid sulfur instead of oxygen gas. This distinction is a major difference from the process of photosynthesis.
The implications of chemosynthesis extend from our own planet to the rest of the solar system. Some scientists hypothesize that anaerobic chemosynthesis could support life below the surface of Mars. It might also exist on Europa, which is a moon of Jupiter. On Earth, chemosynthesis may have been the first type of metabolism to evolve. It likely paved the way for the later development of cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Today, studying these microbes helps us understand biogeochemical cycles and the transformation of chemical elements. It also offers potential for using bacteria to accumulate valuable resources for human needs.
Where will your curiosity go next?
🖼️ Images & Media (2)
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🔬 Go deeper
More advanced topics to explore
🪜 Step back
Simpler topics to build understanding
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.