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CHNOPS. Graphic representation of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur. CHNOPS and CHON are mnemonic acronyms for the most common elements in living organisms. "CHON" stands for c arbon, h ydrogen, o xygen, and n itrogen, which together make up more than 95 percent of the mass of biological systems. [1] ".
Biodegradation is the naturally-occurring breakdown of materials by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi or other biological activity. [ 35 ] Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradation occurs under a specific set of circumstances. [ 36 ] The predominant difference between the two is that one process is naturally-occurring ...
Biological roles of the elements. A large fraction of the chemical elements that occur naturally on the Earth's surface are essential to the structure and metabolism of living things. Four of these elements (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) are essential to every living thing and collectively make up 99% of the mass of protoplasm. [1]
Venenivibrio stagnispumantis gains energy by oxidizing hydrogen gas.. In biochemistry, chemosynthesis is the biological conversion of one or more carbon-containing molecules (usually carbon dioxide or methane) and nutrients into organic matter using the oxidation of inorganic compounds (e.g., hydrogen gas, hydrogen sulfide) or ferrous ions as a source of energy, rather than sunlight, as in ...
A heterotroph (/ ˈhɛtərəˌtroʊf, - ˌtrɒf /; [1][2] from Ancient Greek ἕτερος (héteros) 'other' and τροφή (trophḗ) 'nutrition') is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. In the food chain, heterotrophs are primary, secondary ...
Decomposer. Fungi acting as decomposers of a fallen tree branch. Decomposers are organisms that break down dead or decaying organisms; they carry out decomposition, a process possible by only certain kingdoms, such as fungi. [1] Like herbivores and predators, decomposers are heterotrophic, meaning that they use organic material to get their ...
Photosynthesis (/ ˌfoʊtəˈsɪnθəsɪs / FOH-tə-SINTH-ə-sis) [ 1 ] is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabolism.
Biology and its subfields of biochemistry and molecular biology study biomolecules and their reactions. Most biomolecules are organic compounds, and just four elements—oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen—make up 96% of the human body's mass. But many other elements, such as the various biometals, are also present in small amounts.