Biological Formation of Organic Substances from Particulate Organic Matter

Abstract: Biological degradation of terrestrially derived macromolecules including lignin and cellulose has been shown to produce a large number of environmentally relevant phenolic compounds. It has demonstrated that extracellular superoxide (O2°-) is produced by heterotrophic bacteria that are common in lakes, soil, hydrothermal vents, marine sediments, estuaries and oceans. Rates of superoxide production normalized to the proportion of metabolically active cells vary between 0.02 +/- 0.02 amol cell−1 hour−1 (mean ± standard error) and 19.4 +/- 5.2 amol cell−1 hour−1. Such findings provide insights into the mechanism of two key and yet unclear processes, including the biological degradation of particulate organic matter (POM) that can form dissolved organic substances, and the structural diversification of dissolved organic substances originated from POM such as plant material or algal biomass.