! Why is photosynthesis so important to the biosphere? Well Heliobacteria chlorum will tell you why. The underappreciated job, photosynthesis, is to go up to the atmosphere to collect the inorganic Carbon. Then it is changed into organic Carbon compounds and then released into the biosphere for those who need it. If Heliobacteria chlorum didn’t change it to organic carbon it would be useless for the biosphere. Without carbon, life forms like humans wouldn’t be alive right now. So, it is extremely important for the life forms in the biosphere or they would have nothing to build their bodies. So that is why Heliobacteria chlorum’s job, photosynthesis, makes it a superhero!

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Kenneth R. Miller. Heliobacterium chlorum: cell organization and structure. 12/12/09. <http://www.springerlink.com/content/n61h71587572n88k/>.

Heliobacteria 11/12/09. <http://www.life.umd.edu/labs/delwiche/PSlife/lectures/Heliobact.html>.

Photo of Heliobacteria.12/19/09. http://genomes.tgen.org/helio.htmll

Atmosphere the layer of gases that surround the planet

Biosphere envelope of air, water and land in which living things exist

Micron one millionth of a meter

Inorganic not living, no C-H bonds

Organic Comes from life [bio] has Carbon-Hydrogen (C-H) bond

S o m e k n o w m e a s Heliobacteria Chlorum. Other bacteria know me as Helio. But you will know me as the invisible bacteria. My size makes me invisible because I am a really small bacteria. My length is 3 microns and my width is .5 microns, which is not really big so that makes me a really tiny bacteria that you can’t see. It takes 9,375,000 of me to fit in a sugar cube.

if you don't

know some of

the words here

they are.

find out why i

deserve your

respect....

Carbon is very important because it keeps living organisms alive! The carbon cycle starts in the atmosphere where carbon is inorganic carbon dioxide. Plants, bacteria, and the sun’s energy change this carbon to an organic form. This process is called photosynthesis. Now the organic carbon is in the biosphere and it is useful for living organisms. When a living thing in the biosphere dies, bacteria break it down and carbon is released into the atmosphere again; this also makes carbon inorganic again. This process is called respiration or fermentation. The carbon cycle continues to change carbon, the building block of life, so that every living thing has it in the way they need it.

Hello! I am Heliobacteria chlorum and metabolism is one of the many methods scientists use to classify bacteria like me. Classifying organisms is a way to better understand them. Metabolism is about where organisms get their carbon and energy. Their are two possible places to get your carbon. You can get your inorganic carbon from the atmosphere and you can get your organic carbon from the biosphere. Now there are two places you can get your energy, light or chemicals. Heliobacteria chlorum has a particular metabolism. It gets its energy from light and it gets its carbon from organic material in the biosphere. All organisms need carbon in one of two forms - organic or inorganic. It is very important to have both of them available so that all metabolisms can function.

OH MY

BACTERIA!

good thing he

caught the

murderer.