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Electron donor

 

 
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Electron donor
 
 
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An electron donor is a chemical entity that donates electron
Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. It has elementary particle and is believed to be a point particle....
s to another compound. It is a reducing agent
Reducing agent

A reducing agent is the element or compound in a redox reaction that reduces another Chemical species. In doing so, it becomes oxidized, and is therefore the electron donor in the redox....
 that, by virtue of its donating electrons, is itself oxidized in the process.

Electron donors give up or donate an electron during cellular respiration
Cellular respiration

Cellular respiration is the set of the metabolism reactions and processes that take place in organisms' cell s to convert Energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate , and then release waste products....
, resulting in the release of energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
. Microorganisms, such as bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
, obtain energy to grow by transferring electrons from an electron donor to an electron acceptor
Electron acceptor

An electron acceptor is a chemical entity that accepts electrons transferred to it from another compound. It is an oxidizing agent that, by virtue of its accepting electrons, is itself reduced in the process....
. The microorganism through its cellular machinery collects the energy for its use.






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An electron donor is a chemical entity that donates electron
Electron

The electron is a subatomic particle that carries a negative electric charge. It has elementary particle and is believed to be a point particle....
s to another compound. It is a reducing agent
Reducing agent

A reducing agent is the element or compound in a redox reaction that reduces another Chemical species. In doing so, it becomes oxidized, and is therefore the electron donor in the redox....
 that, by virtue of its donating electrons, is itself oxidized in the process.

Electron donors give up or donate an electron during cellular respiration
Cellular respiration

Cellular respiration is the set of the metabolism reactions and processes that take place in organisms' cell s to convert Energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate , and then release waste products....
, resulting in the release of energy
Energy

In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. Energy is an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law....
. Microorganisms, such as bacteria
Bacteria

The Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals....
, obtain energy to grow by transferring electrons from an electron donor to an electron acceptor
Electron acceptor

An electron acceptor is a chemical entity that accepts electrons transferred to it from another compound. It is an oxidizing agent that, by virtue of its accepting electrons, is itself reduced in the process....
. The microorganism through its cellular machinery collects the energy for its use. The final result is the electron is donated to an electron acceptor
Electron acceptor

An electron acceptor is a chemical entity that accepts electrons transferred to it from another compound. It is an oxidizing agent that, by virtue of its accepting electrons, is itself reduced in the process....
. During this process (electron transport chain
Electron transport chain

An electron transport chain couples a chemical reaction between an electron donor and an electron acceptor to the transfer of proton across a Cell membrane, through a set of mediating biochemical reactions....
) the electron donor is oxidized and the electron acceptor is reduced. Petroleum hydrocarbons, less chlorinated solvents like vinyl chloride
Vinyl chloride

Vinyl chloride is the organic compound with the formula CH2:CHCl. This colourless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride ....
, soil organic matter, and reduced inorganic compounds are all compounds that can act as electron donors. These reactions are of interest not only because they allow organisms to obtain energy, but also because they are involved in the natural biodegradation
Biodegradation

Biodegradation is the process by which organic compound substances are decomposition by the enzymes produced by living organisms. The term is often used in relation to ecology, waste management and natural environmental environmental remediation ....
 of organic contaminants. When clean-up professionals use monitored natural attenuation to clean up contaminated sites, biodegradation is one of the major contributing processes.

See also

  • Semiconductor
    Semiconductor

    A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between those of a Electrical conductor and an electrical insulation; it can vary over that wide range either permanently or dynamically....


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