Lithoautotroph

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Lithoautotroph

A lithoautotroph is a microbe which derives energy from reduced

Redox

Redox describes all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number changed.This can be either a simple redox process such as the oxidation of carbon to yield carbon dioxide or the reduction of carbon by hydrogen to yield methane , or it can be a complex process such as the oxidation of sugar in the human body through a ser...
compounds of mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
origin. They may also be referred to as chemolithoautotrophs, a type of lithotrophs

Lithotroph

A lithotroph is an organism that uses an inorganic substrate to obtain reducing equivalents for use in biosynthesis or energy conservation via aerobic or anaerobic respiration....
, reflecting their autotrophic metabolic pathways. Lithoautotrophs are exclusively microbes; macrofauna do not possess the capability to utilize mineral sources of energy. For lithoautotrophic bacteria, only inorganic molecules can be used as energy sources.

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Encyclopedia

A lithoautotroph is a microbe which derives energy from reduced

Redox

Mineral

Lithotroph

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....
. The term "Lithotroph" is created from the terms 'lithos' (rock) and 'troph' (consumer); literally, it may be read "eaters of rock." Many lithoautotrophs are extremophiles, but this is not universally so.

Lithoautotrophs participate in many geological processes, such as the weathering

Weathering

Weathering is the decomposition of earth Rock , soils and their minerals through direct contact with the planet's atmosphere. Weathering occurs in situ, or "with no movement", and thus should not be confused with erosion, which involves the movement of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, wind, and gravity....
of parent material

Parent material

Parent material, in soil science, means the underlying geological material in which soil horizons form. Soils typically get a great deal of structure and minerals from their parent material....
(bedrock) to form soil

Soil

Soil is the naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose covering on the Earth's surface. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes including weathering and erosion....
, as well as biogeochemical cycling of sulfur

Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant Valence non-metal....
, potassium

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
, and other elements. They may be present in the deep terrestrial subsurface (they have been found well over a 3km below the surface of the planet), in soils, and in endolith

Endolith

An endolith is an organism that lives inside Rock , coral, animal shells, or in the Porositys between mineral grains of a rock. Many are extremophiles; living in places previously thought inhospitable to life....
communities. As they are responsible for the liberation of many crucial nutrients, and participate in the formation of soil

Pedogenesis

Pedogenesis or soil evolution is the process by which soil is created. It is the major topic of the science of pedology , whose other aspects include the soil morphology, soil classification of soils, and their distribution in nature, present and past ....
, lithoautotrophs play a crucial role in the maintenance of life on Earth.

Lithoautotrophic microbial consortia are responsible for the phenomenon known as acid mine drainage

Acid mine drainage

Acid mine drainage , or acid rock drainage , refers to the outflow of acidic water from abandoned metal mining or coal mines. However, other areas where the earth has been disturbed may also contribute acid rock drainage to the environment....
, whereby energy-rich pyrite present in mine tailing heaps and in exposed rock faces is metabolized to form sulfites, which form potentially toxic sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid, hydrogen2sulfuroxygen4, is a strong mineral acid. It is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sulfuric acid has many applications, and is one of the top products of the chemical industry....
when dissolved in water. Acid mine drainage drastically alters the acidity and chemistry of groundwater

Groundwater

Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil porosity spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water....
and stream

Stream

A stream is a body of water less than 60 feet wide with a current , confined within a stream bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as brook, beck, Burn , creek, crick, kill, lick , rill, river syke, bayou, rivu...
s, and may endanger plant and animal populations. Activity similar to acid mine drainage, but on a much lower scale, is also found in natural conditions such as the rocky beds of glaciers, in soil and talus

Talus

Talus may refer to:* Talus , a sloped portion of a fortified wall* Talus bone, the ankle bone, connecting the leg to the foot* List of Star Wars planets #Talus, a planet in the Star Wars universe...
, and in the deep subsurface.

Lithoautotrophs are extremely specific in using their energy source. Thus, despite the diversity in using inorganic molecules in order to obtain energy that lithoautotrophs exhibit as a group, one particular lithoautotroph would use only one type of inorganic molecules to get its energy.