Cytochrome P450 oxidase (commonly abbreviated CYP) is a generic term for a large number of related, but distinct, oxidative enzymes (EC 1.14) important in animal physiology. The cytochrome P450 mixed-function monooxygenase system is probably the most important element of Phase I metabolism in animals (metabolism in this context being the chemical modification or degradation of chemicals including drugs and endogenous compounds). Cytochrome P450 sequence homologs have been determined in all lineages of life, including mammals, birds, fish, insects, worms, sea squirts, ...

Including:

• Cytochrome P450 oxidase - Molecular biology
• Cytochrome P450 oxidase - Nomenclature
• Cytochrome P450 oxidase - CYP Families in humans
• Cytochrome P450 oxidase - Other specific CYP functions

Read more here: » Cytochrome P450 oxidase: Encyclopedia - Cytochrome P450 oxidase

Like plants, the cyanobacteria use water as an electron donor for photosynthesis and therefore liberate oxygen; they also use chlorophyll as a pigment. In addition, most cyanobacteria use phycobilin to capture light energy and pass it on to the chlorophylls. (Some cyanobacteria, the prochlorophytes, use chlorophyll b instead of phycobilin.) It is thought that the chloroplasts in plants and algae all evolved from cyanobacteria. Several other groups of bacteria use the bacteriochlorophyll pigments (similar to the chlorophylls) for photo ...

See also:

Photosynthetic pigment, Photosynthetic pigment - Plants, Photosynthetic pigment - Bacteria, Photosynthetic pigment - Algae, Photosynthetic pigment - Archaea

Read more here: » Photosynthetic pigment: Encyclopedia II - Photosynthetic pigment - Bacteria

Green plants have five closely-related photosynthetic pigments (in order of increasing polarity): Carotene - an orange pigment Xanthophyll - a yellow pigment Chlorophyll a - a blue-green pigment Chlorophyll b - a yellow-green pigment Phaeophytin - a gray pigment Chlorophyll a is the most common of the five, present in every plant that performs photosynthesis. The reason that there are so many pigments is that each absorbs light more efficiently in a different part of the spectrum ...

See also:

Photosynthetic pigment, Photosynthetic pigment - Plants, Photosynthetic pigment - Bacteria, Photosynthetic pigment - Algae, Photosynthetic pigment - Archaea

Read more here: » Photosynthetic pigment: Encyclopedia II - Photosynthetic pigment - Plants

In prokaryotes, the same enzyme catalyzes the sythesis of three types of RNA: mRNA, rRNA and tRNA. RNAP is a relatively large molecule. The core enzyme has 5 subunits (~400 kDa): α2: the two α subunits assemble the enzyme and recognize regulatory factors. β: this has the polymerase activity (catalyzes the synthesis of RNA). β': binds to DNA (nonspecifically). ω: function not known clearly.However it has been observed to offer a protect ...

See also:

RNA polymerase, RNA polymerase - RNA polymerase in prokaryotes, RNA polymerase - RNA polymerase in eukaryotes, RNA polymerase - RNA polymerase in archaea, RNA polymerase - RNA polymerase in viruses, RNA polymerase - Transcriptional cofactors, RNA polymerase - Isolation

Read more here: » RNA polymerase: Encyclopedia II - RNA polymerase - RNA polymerase in prokaryotes

Although alkanes occur in nature in various way, they do not rank biologically among the essential materials. Cycloalkanes with 14 to 18 carbon atoms occur in musk, extracted from deer of the family Moschidae. All further information refers to acyclic alkanes. Alkane - Bacteria and archaea. Certain types of bacteria can metabolise alkanes: they prefer even-numbered carbon chains as they are ...

See also:

Alkane, Alkane - Isomerism, Alkane - Nomenclature of alkanes, Alkane - Alkanes with unbranched carbon chains, Alkane - Alkanes with branched carbon chains, Alkane - Trivial names, Alkane - Occurrence, Alkane - Purification and use, Alkane - Preparation, Alkane - Molecular geometry, Alkane - Bond lengths and bond angles, Alkane - Conformation, Alkane - Properties, Alkane - Physical properties, Alkane - Chemical properties, Alkane - Thermochemistry, Alkane - Spectroscopic properties, Alkane - Reactions, Alkane - Reactions with oxygen, Alkane - Reactions with halogens, Alkane - Cracking and reforming, Alkane - Other reactions, Alkane - Hazards, Alkane - Alkanes in nature, Alkane - Bacteria and archaea, Alkane - Fungi and plants, Alkane - Animals, Alkane - Ecological relations

Read more here: » Alkane: Encyclopedia II - Alkane - Alkanes in nature

The names of all alkanes end with -ane. Alkane - Alkanes with unbranched carbon chains. The first four members of the series (in terms of number of carbon atoms) are named as follows: methane, CH4 ethane, C2H6 propane, C3H8 butane, C4H10 Alkanes with five or more carbon atoms are named by adding the suffix -ane to the appropriate numerical multiplier with elision ...

See also:

Alkane, Alkane - Isomerism, Alkane - Nomenclature of alkanes, Alkane - Alkanes with unbranched carbon chains, Alkane - Alkanes with branched carbon chains, Alkane - Trivial names, Alkane - Occurrence, Alkane - Purification and use, Alkane - Preparation, Alkane - Molecular geometry, Alkane - Bond lengths and bond angles, Alkane - Conformation, Alkane - Properties, Alkane - Physical properties, Alkane - Chemical properties, Alkane - Thermochemistry, Alkane - Spectroscopic properties, Alkane - Reactions, Alkane - Reactions with oxygen, Alkane - Reactions with halogens, Alkane - Cracking and reforming, Alkane - Other reactions, Alkane - Hazards, Alkane - Alkanes in nature, Alkane - Bacteria and archaea, Alkane - Fungi and plants, Alkane - Animals, Alkane - Ecological relations

Read more here: » Alkane: Encyclopedia II - Alkane - Nomenclature of alkanes

Microorganisms are found everywhere in nature. Even in hostile environments, like the poles, deserts, geysers, rocks, and the deep sea, some types of microorganisms have adapted to the extreme conditions and sustained colonies; these organisms are known as extremophiles. Some extremophiles have been known to survive for a prolonged time in a vacuum, and some can be unusually resistant to radiation. Microorganisms are used in brewing, baking, biotechnology, recycling of other organisms' remains and waste products, and many other processes. They can also be harmful a ...

See also:

Microorganism, Microorganism - Micro-organisms and unicellular organisms, Microorganism - Habitats and ecology

Read more here: » Microorganism: Encyclopedia II - Microorganism - Habitats and ecology

Microorganisms are found everywhere in nature. Even in hostile environments, like the poles, deserts, geysers, rocks, and the deep sea, some types of microorganisms have adapted to the extreme conditions and sustained colonies; these organisms are known as extremophiles. Some extremophiles have been known to survive for a prolonged time in a vacuum, and some can be unusually resistant to radiation. Microorganisms are used in brewing, baking, biotechnology, recycling of other organisms' remains and waste products, and many other processes. They can also be harmful a ...

See also:

Microorganism, Microorganism - Microbes in Frani the Pink Qiant Squid, Microorganism - Habitats and ecology

Read more here: » Microorganism: Encyclopedia II - Microorganism - Habitats and ecology

The molecular structure of the alkanes directly affects their physical and chemical characteristics. It is derived from the electron configuration of carbon, which has four valence electrons. The carbon atoms in alkanes are always sp3-hybridised, that is to say that the valence electrons are said to be in four equivalent orbitals derived from the combination of the 2s-orbital and the three 2p-orbitals. These orbitals, which have identical energies, are arranged spatially in the form of a tetrahedron, the angle of 109.47° between them. ...

See also:

Alkane, Alkane - Isomerism, Alkane - Nomenclature of alkanes, Alkane - Alkanes with unbranched carbon chains, Alkane - Alkanes with branched carbon chains, Alkane - Trivial names, Alkane - Occurrence, Alkane - Purification and use, Alkane - Preparation, Alkane - Molecular geometry, Alkane - Bond lengths and bond angles, Alkane - Conformation, Alkane - Properties, Alkane - Physical properties, Alkane - Chemical properties, Alkane - Thermochemistry, Alkane - Spectroscopic properties, Alkane - Reactions, Alkane - Reactions with oxygen, Alkane - Reactions with halogens, Alkane - Cracking and reforming, Alkane - Other reactions, Alkane - Hazards, Alkane - Alkanes in nature, Alkane - Bacteria and archaea, Alkane - Fungi and plants, Alkane - Animals, Alkane - Ecological relations

Read more here: » Alkane: Encyclopedia II - Alkane - Molecular geometry

Alkanes are both important raw materials of the chemical industry and the most important fuels of the world economy. The starting materials for the processing are always natural gas and crude oil. The latter is separated in an oil refinery by fractional distillation and processed into many different products, for example gasoline. The different "fractions" of crude oil have different boiling points and can be isolated and separated quite easily: within the individual fra ...

See also:

Alkane, Alkane - Isomerism, Alkane - Nomenclature of alkanes, Alkane - Alkanes with unbranched carbon chains, Alkane - Alkanes with branched carbon chains, Alkane - Trivial names, Alkane - Occurrence, Alkane - Purification and use, Alkane - Preparation, Alkane - Molecular geometry, Alkane - Bond lengths and bond angles, Alkane - Conformation, Alkane - Properties, Alkane - Physical properties, Alkane - Chemical properties, Alkane - Thermochemistry, Alkane - Spectroscopic properties, Alkane - Reactions, Alkane - Reactions with oxygen, Alkane - Reactions with halogens, Alkane - Cracking and reforming, Alkane - Other reactions, Alkane - Hazards, Alkane - Alkanes in nature, Alkane - Bacteria and archaea, Alkane - Fungi and plants, Alkane - Animals, Alkane - Ecological relations

Read more here: » Alkane: Encyclopedia II - Alkane - Purification and use

Alkane - Physical properties. The molecular structure, particularly the surface area of the molecule, determines the boiling point of the alkane: the smaller the surface, the lower the boiling point, as the van der Waals forces between the molecules are weaker. A reduction of the surface area can be achieved by chain-branching or by a circular structure. This means in practice that alkanes with higher number of carbon atoms usually have higher boiling points than those with lower numbers of carbon atoms, and that ...

See also:

Alkane, Alkane - Isomerism, Alkane - Nomenclature of alkanes, Alkane - Alkanes with unbranched carbon chains, Alkane - Alkanes with branched carbon chains, Alkane - Trivial names, Alkane - Occurrence, Alkane - Purification and use, Alkane - Preparation, Alkane - Molecular geometry, Alkane - Bond lengths and bond angles, Alkane - Conformation, Alkane - Properties, Alkane - Physical properties, Alkane - Chemical properties, Alkane - Thermochemistry, Alkane - Spectroscopic properties, Alkane - Reactions, Alkane - Reactions with oxygen, Alkane - Reactions with halogens, Alkane - Cracking and reforming, Alkane - Other reactions, Alkane - Hazards, Alkane - Alkanes in nature, Alkane - Bacteria and archaea, Alkane - Fungi and plants, Alkane - Animals, Alkane - Ecological relations

Read more here: » Alkane: Encyclopedia II - Alkane - Properties

Alkane - Reactions with oxygen. All alkanes react with oxygen in a combustion reaction, although they become increasing difficult to ignite as the number of carbon atoms increases. The general equation for complete combustion is: 2CnH2n+2 + (3n+1)O2 → 2(n+1)H2O + 2nCO2 In the absence of sufficient oxygen, carbon monoxide or even soot can be formed, as shown below for methane: 2CH4 + 3O2 → 2CO + 4H2O CH4 + O2< ...

See also:

Alkane, Alkane - Isomerism, Alkane - Nomenclature of alkanes, Alkane - Alkanes with unbranched carbon chains, Alkane - Alkanes with branched carbon chains, Alkane - Trivial names, Alkane - Occurrence, Alkane - Purification and use, Alkane - Preparation, Alkane - Molecular geometry, Alkane - Bond lengths and bond angles, Alkane - Conformation, Alkane - Properties, Alkane - Physical properties, Alkane - Chemical properties, Alkane - Thermochemistry, Alkane - Spectroscopic properties, Alkane - Reactions, Alkane - Reactions with oxygen, Alkane - Reactions with halogens, Alkane - Cracking and reforming, Alkane - Other reactions, Alkane - Hazards, Alkane - Alkanes in nature, Alkane - Bacteria and archaea, Alkane - Fungi and plants, Alkane - Animals, Alkane - Ecological relations

Read more here: » Alkane: Encyclopedia II - Alkane - Reactions

Alkanes occur both on Earth and in the solar system, however only the first hundred or so, and even then mostly only in traces. The light hydrocarbons, especially methane and ethane are of great importance for other heavenly bodies: they are found, for example, both in the tail of the comet Hyakutake and in some meteorites such as carbonaceous chondrites. They also form an important portion of the atmospheres of the outer gas planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. On Titan, the satellite of Saturn, it is believed that there were once large oceans of these and longer chain alkanes: smaller seas of liquid eth ...

See also:

Alkane, Alkane - Isomerism, Alkane - Nomenclature of alkanes, Alkane - Alkanes with unbranched carbon chains, Alkane - Alkanes with branched carbon chains, Alkane - Trivial names, Alkane - Occurrence, Alkane - Purification and use, Alkane - Preparation, Alkane - Molecular geometry, Alkane - Bond lengths and bond angles, Alkane - Conformation, Alkane - Properties, Alkane - Physical properties, Alkane - Chemical properties, Alkane - Thermochemistry, Alkane - Spectroscopic properties, Alkane - Reactions, Alkane - Reactions with oxygen, Alkane - Reactions with halogens, Alkane - Cracking and reforming, Alkane - Other reactions, Alkane - Hazards, Alkane - Alkanes in nature, Alkane - Bacteria and archaea, Alkane - Fungi and plants, Alkane - Animals, Alkane - Ecological relations

Read more here: » Alkane: Encyclopedia II - Alkane - Occurrence

Common descent - Universality and similarity. The universality of the genetic code is generally regarded by biologists as definitive evidence in favor of the theory of universal common descent (UCD) for all bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes (see Three domain system). Analysis of the small differences in the genetic code has also provided support for UCD.See also:

Common descent, Common descent - History, Common descent - Evidence for common descent, Common descent - Universality and similarity, Common descent - The argument from irrelevant differences, Common descent - Footnotes

Read more here: » Common descent: Encyclopedia II - Common descent - Evidence for common descent

Lineages are typically visualized as subsets of a phylogenetic tree. For example, the tree in Figure 1 shows the separation of life into three ancient lineages: bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. Phylogenetic trees are typically created from DNA or protein sequence data. Sequences from different individuals are collected and their similarity is quantified. Mathematical procedures are used to cluster individuals by similarity. Just as a map is a scaled approximation of true geography, a phylogenetic tree is an approximation of the true ...

See also:

Lineage evolution, Lineage evolution - Phylogenetic representation of lineages, Lineage evolution - The lineage definition of human races

Read more here: » Lineage evolution: Encyclopedia II - Lineage evolution - Phylogenetic representation of lineages

Biofilms are usually found on solid substrates submerged in or exposed to some aqueous solution, although they can form as floating mats on liquid surfaces. Given sufficient resources for growth, a biofilm will quickly grow to be macroscopic. Biofilms usually consist of many species of bacteria and archaea, each performing specialized metabolic functions. However, some organisms will form monospecies films under certain conditions. The biofilm is held together and protected by a matrix of excreted polymeric compounds. This matrix protects th ...

See also:

Biofilm, Biofilm - Formation, Biofilm - Properties, Biofilm - Examples

Read more here: » Biofilm: Encyclopedia II - Biofilm - Properties

Methane has been detected or is believed to exist in several locations of the solar system. It is believed to have been created by abiotic processes, with the possible exception of Mars. Jupiter Mars Saturn Iapetus Titan Neptune Triton Uranus Ariel Miranda Oberon Titania Umbriel Comet Halley Comet Hyakutake 2003 UB313 Traces of methane gas are present in the thin atmosphere of the Earth's Moon. Me ...

See also:

Methane, Methane - Sources of methane, Methane - Reactions of methane, Methane - Extraterrestrial Methane, Methane - Methane on Earth, Methane - Uses, Methane - Units of measure, Methane - Methane in heraldry

Read more here: » Methane: Encyclopedia II - Methane - Extraterrestrial Methane

Although life is very sparse at these depths, black smokers are the center of entire ecosystems. Sunlight is nonexistent, so many organisms — such as archaea and extremophiles — must convert the heat, methane, and sulfur compounds provided by black smokers into energy through a process called chemosynthesis. In turn, more complex life forms like clams and tubeworms feed on these organisms. The organisms at the base of the food chain also deposit minerals into the ba ...

See also:

Black smoker, Black smoker - Black smoker ecosystem

Read more here: » Black smoker: Encyclopedia II - Black smoker - Black smoker ecosystem

In the combustion of methane several steps are involved: Methane forms a methyl radical (CH3), which reacts with oxygen forming formaldehyde (HCHO or H2CO). The formaldehyde gives a formal radical (HCO), which then forms carbon monoxide (CO). The process is called oxidative pyrolysis: CH4 + O2 → CO + H2 + H2O Following oxidative pyrolysis, the H2 oxidizes, forming H2O, replenishing the active species, and releasing heat. This occurs very quickly, usually in less than a milli ...

See also:

Methane, Methane - Sources of methane, Methane - Reactions of methane, Methane - Extraterrestrial Methane, Methane - Methane on Earth, Methane - Uses, Methane - Units of measure, Methane - Methane in heraldry

Read more here: » Methane: Encyclopedia II - Methane - Reactions of methane

Methane is an important fuel for electrical generation. Compared to other fossil fuels, burning methane produces less carbon dioxide for each unit of heat released. In many cities, methane is piped into homes for domestic heating and cooking purposes. Methane is used in industrial chemical processes and may be transported in liquid or refrigerated liquid form. While leaks from a liquid container are initially heavier than air, the gas is lighter than air. Gas pipelines distribute large amounts of natural gas, of which met ...

See also:

Methane, Methane - Sources of methane, Methane - Reactions of methane, Methane - Extraterrestrial Methane, Methane - Methane on Earth, Methane - Uses, Methane - Units of measure, Methane - Methane in heraldry

Read more here: » Methane: Encyclopedia II - Methane - Uses

Principal methane sources are Outgassing from earth's mantle through mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are often associated with petroleum deposits and tectonic subduction zones and orogenic belts. Hydrocarbon gases often are erupted. According to geologist Nikolai Kudryavtsev, the eruptions of mud volcanoes have liberated such large quantities of methane that even the most prolific gas field underneath should have been exhausted long ago. Also the quantities of mud deposited in some cases would have required eruptions of much ...

See also:

Methane, Methane - Sources of methane, Methane - Reactions of methane, Methane - Extraterrestrial Methane, Methane - Methane on Earth, Methane - Uses, Methane - Units of measure, Methane - Methane in heraldry

Read more here: » Methane: Encyclopedia II - Methane - Sources of methane