Microbes can grow on nitric oxide
A study published by Max Planck scientist Boran Kartal and colleagues at Nature Communications reveals new highlights of this molecular microbial transformation.
Nitric oxide is a fascinating and versatile molecule that is important to all living things and the environment: it is highly active and toxic, and it is used as a signal molecule, which depletes the ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere and is its predecessor. Greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Nitrogen oxides are also pollutants discharged together with exhaust gases, such as automotive internal combustion engines, and are harmful to human health.
Interestingly, nitric oxide can act as a high-energy oxidant long before oxygen is present on Earth and may play an important role in the emergence and evolution of life on Earth. A study published by Max-Planck scientist Boran Kartal and colleagues at Nature Communications reveals a new highlight of this molecular microbial transformation.
