Anoxia: Evidence for Eukaryote Survival and Paleontological Strategies (Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology Book 21)

Annotation ANOXIA defines the lack of free molecular oxygen in an environment. In the presence of organic matter, anaerobic prokaryotes produce compounds such as free radicals, hydrogen sulfide, or methane that are typically toxic to aerobes. The concomitance of suppressed respiration and presence of toxic substances suggests these habitats are inhospitable to Eukaryota. Ecologists sometimes term such environments 'Death Zones'. This book presents, however, a collection of remarkable adaptations to anoxia, observed in Eukaryotes such as protists, animals, plants and fungi. Case studies provide evidence for controlled beneficial use of anoxia by, for example, modification of free radicals, use of alternative electron donors for anaerobic metabolic pathways, and employment of anaerobic symbionts. The complex, interwoven existence of oxic and anoxic conditions in space and time is also highlighted as is the idea that eukaryotic inhabitation of anoxic habitats was established early in Earth history Front Matter....Pages i-xxxv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Anaerobic Eukaryotes....Pages 3-16 Biogeochemical Reactions in Marine Sediments Underlying Anoxic Water Bodies....Pages 17-38 Diversity of Anaerobic Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes: Breaking Long-Established Dogmas....Pages 39-47 Front Matter....Pages 49-49 The Biochemical Adaptations of Mitochondrion-Related Organelles of Parasitic and Free-Living Microbial Eukaryotes to Low Oxygen Environments....Pages 51-81 Hydrogenosomes and Mitosomes: Mitochondrial Adaptations to Life in Anaerobic Environments....Pages 83-112 Adapting to Hypoxia: Lessons from Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor....Pages 113-128 Front Matter....Pages 129-129 Magnetotactic Protists at the Oxic–Anoxic Transition Zones of Coastal Aquatic Environments....Pages 131-143 A Novel Ciliate (Ciliophora: Hypotrichida) Isolated from Bathyal Anoxic Sediments....Pages 145-154 The Wood-Eating Termite Hindgut: Diverse Cellular Symbioses in a Microoxic to Anoxic Environment....Pages 155-166 Ecological and Experimental Exposure of Insects to Anoxia Reveals Surprising Tolerance....Pages 167-188 The Unusual Response of Encysted Embryos of the Animal Extremophile, Artemia franciscana , to Prolonged Anoxia....Pages 189-203 Survival of Tardigrades in Extreme Environments: A Model Animal for Astrobiology....Pages 205-217 Long-Term Anoxia Tolerance in Flowering Plants....Pages 219-246 Front Matter....Pages 247-247 Benthic Foraminifera: Inhabitants of Low-Oxygen Environments....Pages 249-285 Ecological and Biological Response of Benthic Foraminifera Under Oxygen-Depleted Conditions: Evidence from Laboratory Approaches....Pages 287-303 The Response of Benthic Foraminifera to Low-Oxygen Conditions of the Peruvian Oxygen Minimum Zone....Pages 305-321 Benthic Foraminiferal Communities and Microhabitat Selection on the Continental Shelf Off Central Peru....Pages 323-340 Front Matter....Pages 341-341 Living Assemblages from the “Dead Zone” and Naturally Occurring Hypoxic Zones....Pages 343-352 The Return of Shallow Shelf Seas as Extreme Environments: Anoxia and Macrofauna Reactions in the Northern Adriatic Sea....Pages 353-368 Meiobenthos of the Oxic/Anoxic Interface in the Southwestern Region of the Black Sea: Abundance and Taxonomic Composition....Pages 369-401 Front Matter....Pages 341-341 The Role of Eukaryotes in the Anaerobic Food Web of Stratified Lakes....Pages 403-419 The Anoxic Framvaren Fjord as a Model System to Study Protistan Diversity and Evolution....Pages 421-448 Characterizing an Anoxic Habitat: Sulfur Bacteria in a Meromictic Alpine Lake....Pages 449-461 Ophel, the Newly Discovered Hypoxic Chemolithotrophic Groundwater Biome: A Window to Ancient Animal Life....Pages 463-478 Microbial Eukaryotes in the Marine Subsurface?....Pages 479-493 Front Matter....Pages 495-495 On The Use of Stable Nitrogen Isotopes in Present and Past Anoxic Environments....Pages 497-513 Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Fractionation in Foraminifera: Possible Signatures from Anoxia....Pages 515-535 The Functionality of Pores in Benthic Foraminifera in View of Bottom Water Oxygenation: A Review....Pages 537-552 Anoxia-Dysoxia at the Sediment-Water Interface of the Southern Tethys in the Late Cretaceous: Mishash Formation, Southern Israel....Pages 553-572 Styles of Agglutination in Benthic Foraminifera from Modern Santa Barbara Basin Sediments and the Implications of Finding Fossil Analogs in Devonian and Mississippian Black Shales....Pages 573-589 Did Redox Conditions Trigger Test Templates in Proterozoic Foraminifera?....Pages 591-614 The Relevance of Anoxic and Agglutinated Benthic Foraminifera to the Possible Archean Evolution of Eukaryotes....Pages 615-630 Back Matter....Pages 631-348 ANOXIA defines the lack of free molecular oxygen in an environment. In the presence of organic matter, the metabolism of anaerobic prokaryotes soon produces compounds such as free radicals, hydrogen sulfide, or methane that are typically toxic to aerobes. The concomitance of suppressed respiration and the presence of toxic substances suggests that these habitats are inhospitable to eukaryotes. Ecological definitions thus sometimes term these environments 'Death Zones'. In this book, however, we present a collection of remarkable adaptations to anoxia, observed in protists, fungi, plants and animals. Presented are case studies that provide evidence for controlled beneficial use of anoxia by, for example, organic modification of free radicals, use of alternative electron donors for anaerobic metabolic pathways, and employment of anaerobic symbionts. Marine, freshwater, and terrestrial organisms and habitats are considered. Ecological, cell biological, and physiological studies are included. In addition to these biologically oriented chapters, the book also presents a paleontological perspective by discussing indirect and direct evidence of eukaryote survival in ancient times. For example, the complex and often interwoven existence of oxic and anoxic milieus in space and time is also highlighted. Finally, we revisit the idea that eukaryotic inhabitation of anoxic habitats was established early in Earth history. This book will certainly increase your concepts regarding abilities of EUKARYOTA