Micro Cycler Stars

All living matter consists of atoms, mostly atoms of the elements carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, hydrogen and oxygen, but also a few others. These atoms are the building blocks of a vast range of compounds found in both biological and non-biological materials that may also contain other types of atoms. Such compounds may be short lived and disassembled and their atoms distributed into other compounds, long lived and remain essentially the same over eons, and everything in between. Disassembly may occur spontaneously through geochemical processes, or be mediated by microbes: the cyclers that carry out biogeochemical cycling. The cyclers have had an immense impact on the chemistry of planet Earth, making it ever more suitable for living beings, for example, by changing its atmosphere from one lacking oxygen to the present atmosphere consisting of almost 20% of oxygen that allows all oxygen-breathing organisms, including us, to survive and grow. Cycling usually involves energy flows, and the cycles of different elements are often energetically coupled with one another. Let’s explore biogeochemical cycling, learn how an atom in a plant today may find itself in us tomorrow, and get familiar with the microbial heroes of element cycling!