Articles | Volume 18, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3689-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3689-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Reviews and syntheses
| 
21 Jun 2021
Reviews and syntheses |
| 21 Jun 2021
| 21 Jun 2021
Reviews and syntheses: Heterotrophic fixation of inorganic carbon – significant but invisible flux in environmental carbon cycling
Alexander Braun
Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München,
Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Marina Spona-Friedl
Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München,
Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Maria Avramov
Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München,
Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Martin Elsner
Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München,
Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Department of Analytical Chemistry
and Water Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Federico Baltar
Department of Functional and Evolutionary
Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Thomas Reinthaler
Department of Functional and Evolutionary
Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Gerhard J. Herndl
Department of Functional and Evolutionary
Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, Royal
Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59, 1790
AB Den Burg, the Netherlands
Christian Griebler
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Groundwater Ecology, Helmholtz Zentrum München,
Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Department of Functional and Evolutionary
Ecology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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- Substantial dark carbon fixation contributes to carbon sink in human-impacted estuarine and coastal waters R. Cui et al. 10.1007/s44218-025-00091-z
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- Carbon dynamics in termite mounds: The effect of land use on microbial oxalotrophy T. Nel et al. 10.1016/j.catena.2025.108947
- Constraining activity and growth substrate of fungal decomposers via assimilation patterns of inorganic carbon and water into lipid biomarkers S. Jabinski et al. 10.1128/aem.02065-23
- Temperature sensitivity of dark CO2 fixation in temperate forest soils R. Akinyede et al. 10.5194/bg-19-4011-2022
- Microbial defluorination of TFA, PFOA, and HFPO-DA by a native microbial consortium under anoxic conditions Z. Tang et al. 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.133217
- Inactive hydrothermal vent microbial communities are important contributors to deep ocean primary productivity A. Achberger et al. 10.1038/s41564-024-01599-9
- Physiological versatility of ANME-1 and Bathyarchaeotoa-8 archaea evidenced by inverse stable isotope labeling X. Yin et al. 10.1186/s40168-024-01779-z
- Core microbial taxonomies that maintain high organic carbon content in upland soil F. Li et al. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173300
- Rates and physicochemical drivers of microbial anabolic activity in deep‐sea sediments and implications for deep time N. Meyer et al. 10.1111/1462-2920.16183
- The Microbial Ecology of Estuarine Ecosystems B. Crump & J. Bowen 10.1146/annurev-marine-022123-101845
- Revealing holistic metabolic responses associated with lipid and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) production in Aurantiochytrium sp. SW1 P. Prabhakaran et al. 10.1016/j.bbalip.2023.159306
- Elevated heterotrophic activity in Guaymas Basin hydrothermal plumes influences deep-sea carbon cycling A. Montgomery et al. 10.1038/s41467-025-59793-0
- Hydrothermal vents supporting persistent plumes and microbial chemoautotrophy at Gakkel Ridge (Arctic Ocean) G. Wegener et al. 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1473822
- Dark Carbon Fixation Measurements in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) H. Jang et al. 10.3390/jmse12091516
- Role of Carbon Dioxide in the Regulation of Adaptive Proliferation in Bacteria O. Petrova et al. 10.1134/S0026261724605918
- Low CO2 Footprint Remediation of Oil-Contaminated Soil in a Sediment Microbial Fuel Cell G. Klyushin et al. 10.1134/S0026261724609667
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- Unravelling the main mechanism responsible for nocturnal CO2 uptake by dryland soils M. Kim et al. 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171751
- Fixation of CO2 by soil fungi: contribution to organic carbon pool and destination of fixed carbon products F. Li et al. 10.1007/s00374-023-01750-4
- Estimating taxonomic and functional structure along a tropical estuary: linking metabolic traits and aspects of ecosystem functioning H. Levipan et al. 10.1128/spectrum.03886-23
- Quantifying the effects of hydrogen on carbon assimilation in a seafloor microbial community associated with ultramafic rocks Ö. Coskun et al. 10.1038/s41396-021-01066-x
- Single-cell analysis in hypersaline brines predicts a water-activity limit of microbial anabolic activity E. Paris et al. 10.1126/sciadv.adj3594
- The role of carbon dioxide in the regulation of bacterial adaptive proliferation O. Petrova et al. 10.31857/S0026365624050145
- Carbon monoxide-oxidising Pseudomonadota on volcanic deposits R. Dawson et al. 10.1186/s40793-025-00672-y
- Hydrogen and alcohols production by Serratia sp. from an inorganic carbon source I. Salmerón et al. 10.1016/j.jcou.2022.101914
- The effects of metabolism and temperature on carbon isotope composition of lipids in marine bacterium Shewanella piezotolerans WP3 X. Chen et al. 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.120963
- Drought re-routes soil microbial carbon metabolism towards emission of volatile metabolites in an artificial tropical rainforest L. Honeker et al. 10.1038/s41564-023-01432-9
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- Pilot-scale reverse osmosis treatment of gold cyanidation effluent for the removal of cyanide, heavy metal(loid)s, and ionic species C. Goyburo-Chávez et al. 10.1016/j.cscee.2024.100688
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- The contributions of dark microbial CO2 fixation to soil organic carbon along a tropical secondary forest chronosequence on Hainan Island, China Y. Sun et al. 10.1016/j.catena.2024.108556
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- Bacterioplankton dark CO2 fixation in oligotrophic waters A. Alothman et al. 10.5194/bg-20-3613-2023
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It is known that CO2 fixation by photoautotrophic organisms is the major sink from the atmosphere. While biologists are aware that CO2 fixation also occurs in heterotrophic organisms, this route of inorganic carbon, and its quantitative role, is hardly recognized in biogeochemistry. We demonstrate that a considerable amount of CO2 is fixed annually through anaplerotic reactions in heterotrophic organisms, and a significant quantity of inorganic carbon is temporally sequestered in biomass.
It is known that CO2 fixation by photoautotrophic organisms is the major sink from the...
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