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5.5: Concept Check Questions

  • Page ID
    131834
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    1. How does the carbon cycle connect to the nitrogen, iron, and sulfur cycles?
    2. What role does bacterial fermentation and syntrophy play in methanogenesis by Archaea?
    3. What microbial reactions can remove biologically available nitrogen from a system? Do any do it without generating greenhouse gas?
    4. What are the two pathways of nitrate reduction? How do they differ?
    5. What microbial reactions oxidize nitrogen? Can these reactions occur in an anoxic environment?
    6. Is nitrogen fixation a catabolic reaction?
    7. If iron reduction were occurring, how would the mineralogy of an environment change?
    8. How can microorganisms respire solid phases?
    9. What electron acceptors can be used by iron-oxidizing microorganisms?
    10. Under what environmental conditions does abiotic iron oxidation occur rapidly? Are microorganisms typically involved in iron oxidation under such conditions? Why or why not?
    11. How would you expect use of ferrous iron to differ between Gallionella ferruginea and purple nonsulfur bacteria?
    12. What are two reasons microorganisms may catalyze sulfur oxidation?
    13. Have you ever detected sulfate reduction without any analytical instruments?
    14. What microbial contribution to the sulfur cycle both oxidizes and reduces sulfur?

    This page titled 5.5: Concept Check Questions is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Matthew F Kirk via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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