For other uses, see Carbon cycle and Carbon sequestration.
"Fixed carbon" redirects here. For the component of coal, see Coal analysis.
Cyanobacteria such as these carry out photosynthesis. Their emergence foreshadowed the evolution of many photosynthetic plants and oxygenated Earth's atmosphere.
Biological carbon fixation, or сarbon assimilation, is the process by which living organisms convert inorganic carbon (particularly carbon dioxide) to organic compounds. These organic compounds are then used to store energy and as structures for other biomolecules. Carbon is primarily fixed through photosynthesis, but some organisms use chemosynthesis in the absence of sunlight. Chemosynthesis is carbon fixation driven by chemical energy rather than from sunlight.
The process of biological carbon fixation plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, as it serves as the primary mechanism for removing CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere and incorporating it into living biomass. The primary production of organic compounds allows carbon to enter the biosphere.[1] Carbon is considered essential for life as a base element for building organic compounds.[2] The element of carbon forms the bases biogeochemical cycles (or nutrient cycles) and drives communities of living organisms.[2] Understanding biological carbon fixation is essential for comprehending ecosystem dynamics, climate regulation, and the sustainability of life on Earth.[3]
Organisms that grow by fixing carbon are called autotrophs. These include photoautotrophs (which use sunlight) and lithoautotrophs (which use inorganic oxidation). Six natural or autotrophic carbon fixation pathways are currently known. They are the: i) Calvin-Benson-Bassham (Calvin Cycle), ii) Reverse Krebs (rTCA) cycle, iii) the reductive acetyl-CoA (Wood-Ljungdahl pathway), iv) 3-hydroxy propionate [3-HP] bicycle, v) 3-hydroypropionate/4- hydroxybutyrate (3-HP/4-HB) cycle, and vi) the dicarboxylate/ 4-hydroxybutyrate (DC/4-HB) cycle. [1] Heterotrophs are not capable of carbon fixation but are able to grow by consuming the carbon fixed by autotrophs or other heterotrophs. "Fixed carbon," "reduced carbon," and "organic carbon" may all be used interchangeably to refer to various organic compounds.[4]
^ abSantos Correa S, Schultz J, Lauersen KJ, Soares Rosado A (1 May 2023). "Natural carbon fixation and advances in synthetic engineering for redesigning and creating new fixation pathways". Journal of Advanced Research. 47: 75–92. doi:10.1016/j.jare.2022.07.011. hdl:10754/680126. ISSN 2090-1232.
^ abSantos Correa S, Schultz J, Lauersen KJ, Soares Rosado A (1 May 2023). "Natural carbon fixation and advances in synthetic engineering for redesigning and creating new fixation pathways". Journal of Advanced Research. 47: 75–92. doi:10.1016/j.jare.2022.07.011. hdl:10754/680126. ISSN 2090-1232.
^Geider RJ, et al. (2001). "Primary productivity of planet earth: biological determinants and physical constraints in terrestrial and aquatic habitats". Global Change Biology. 7 (8): 849–882. Bibcode:2001GCBio...7..849G. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2486.2001.00448.x. S2CID 41335311.
and 25 Related for: Biological carbon fixation information
Biologicalcarbonfixation, or сarbon assimilation, is the process by which living organisms convert inorganic carbon (particularly carbon dioxide) to...
Blue carbon is a concept within climate change mitigation that refers to "biologically driven carbon fluxes and storage in marine systems that are amenable...
C4 carbonfixation or the Hatch–Slack pathway is one of three known photosynthetic processes of carbonfixation in plants. It owes the names to the 1960s...
The biological pump (or ocean carbonbiological pump or marine biologicalcarbon pump) is the ocean's biologically driven sequestration of carbon from...
Trees portal Biologicalcarbonfixation – Series of interconnected biochemical reactions Carbon dioxide scrubber – Device which absorbs carbon dioxide from...
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are two main types of carbon sequestration: biologic (also called biosequestration) and geologic. Biologic carbon...
that is metabolically useless to all but a few microorganisms. Biological nitrogen fixation or diazotrophy is an important microbe-mediated process that...
and disturbance regimes. Biological soil crusts perform important ecological roles including carbonfixation, nitrogen fixation and soil stabilization;...
Absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans via solubility and biological pumps. Artificial carbon sinks are those that store carbon in building materials...
process of carbonfixation. Some of this biomass is eaten by animals, while some carbon is exhaled by animals as carbon dioxide. The carbon cycle is considerably...
water cycle. Carbon is the main component of biological compounds as well as a major component of many minerals such as limestone. The carbon cycle comprises...
form of particulate inorganic carbon, by fixing bicarbonate. This fixation of DIC is an important part of the oceanic carbon cycle. Ca2+ + 2 HCO− 3 → CaCO3...
solubility pump, (2) the carbonate pump, and (3) the biological pump. The total active pool of carbon at the Earth's surface for durations of less than 10...
more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they release in respiration. Carbonfixation is a biochemical process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide...
ISBN 978-0-321-73975-9. This initial incorporation of carbon into organic compounds is known as carbonfixation. Neitzel, James; Rasband, Matthew. "Cell communication"...
Total organic carbon (TOC) is an analytical parameter representing the concentration of organic carbon in a sample. TOC determinations are made in a variety...
supply. A biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biologicalcarbonfixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well...
autotrophs that utilize the reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle to perform carbonfixation. They are also mixotrophs and reduce nitrogen. Green sulfur bacteria...
in a bifunctional CODH/ACS unit, the two catalytic sites are key to carbonfixation in the reductive acetyl-CoA pathway. Microbial organisms (Both aerobic...
be carried out through both biological and physical processes. Important processes in the nitrogen cycle include fixation, ammonification, nitrification...
Anthropogenic factors have increasingly changed soil carbon distributions. Industrial nitrogen fixation, agricultural practices, and land use and other management...
inorganic carbon from the atmosphere or water because photosynthetic carbonfixation involves several fractionating reactions with kinetic isotope effects...
States. Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biologicalcarbonfixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well...
consume carbon dioxide but do not release oxygen.[citation needed] Carbon dioxide is converted into sugars in a process called carbonfixation; photosynthesis...
Carbon respiration (also called carbon emissions and carbon releases) is used in combination with carbonfixation to gauge carbon flux (as CO2) between...
Global Information