I hate following references to any encyclopaedia... even (especially?!)
Wikipedia...
The rabbit hole to be found there is an infinite labyrinth (maze?) with
bits of cheese to keep me going at every turn!
I learn something new everytime... Who knew Archaea? Really? I was
still in school in 1977 when this distinction was made (apparently). I
forgive myself for still thinking of "Kingdoms" rather than "Domains"
but how did I miss this one? My daughter is a PhD in BioMedicine and we
talk all the time! But she *is* a virologist and "her" viruses (HPV,
West Nile, Dingue) prey on Eu not Pro Caryota!
And then there is the thing about converting both Hydrogen *and* CO2 to
methane? I haven't tracked down (and really shouldn't I have other
projects!) where the H2 and CO2 come from in digestion for Meth Smithii
to refactor... and then *what* does the body do with methane in the gut
(besides expel it one end or the other?)
Ok... back down the rabbit hole!
I'm presuming that Hydrogen production is a byproduct of the very
same bacterium? Or perhaps it is a different one. I suppose it
is also possible that "biogas" production en vitro suffers from
the difficulty of *containing* hydrogen and perhaps that direct,
immediate use of "biogas" benefits from high H concentrations with
the methane?
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org