of indigestion produced the chloroplasts that now are in the plants which surround
us. The names prokaryote and eukaryote reportedly have come to us from a book by
Édouard Chatton. Only a few copies of Chatton’s book are known to still exist.
Although the current coronavirus pandemic has prevented me from personally
verifying its text, these words should be on approximately page 50 of Chatton’s
book (Chatton 1938).
Les protistologues s’accordent, aujourd’hui, à considérer les Flagellés autotrophes, comme
les plus primitifs des Protozoaires à noyau vrai, des Eucaryotes (ensemble qui embrasse
aussi les Végétaux et les Métazoaires), parce qu’ils sont les seuls à pouvoir faire la synthèse
totale de leur protoplasme à partir du milieu minéral. Les organismes hétérotrophes sont
donc subordonnés à leur existence, ainsi qu’à celle des Procaryotes chimiotrophes et
autotrophes (Bactéries nitrifiantes et sulfureuses, Cyanophycées). (Chatton 1938)
English translation:
[The protistologists agree today to consider the autotrophic Flagellates as the most primitive
of the Protozoa with a true nucleus, of the Eukaryotes (group which also embraces Vegetals
and Metazoans), because they are the only ones able to make the total synthesis of their
protoplasm from the mineral medium. Heterotrophic organisms are therefore subordinate to
their existence, as well as to that of the chemotrophic and autotrophic prokaryotes (Nitrifying
and sulfurous bacteria, Cyanophyceae).] I will add to that text a notation that Cyanophyceae
refers to members of the phylum Cyanobacteria.
The possible routes that may have led to formation of mitochondria and chloroplasts have been summarized by William Martin and his colleagues (Zimorski et al.
2014).
Microbes successfully have filled our shared world with life.
1.1.3 Discovering the Metabolic Processes of Life
Some of lifes metabolic process were relatively easy for scientists to discern, such as
the combustion of carbohydates to carbon dioxide. But, the revealing of microbes
and their metabolic process has not always been easy and some of those processes do
yet remain hidden.
Discovering the individual nature of the smallest members of life on this planet
began with the skill of Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek and his initial invention of
a microscope (van Leewenhoeck 1677). Although life would have begun relatively
small and seemingly simple, the process of evolution has seen the creation of some
very complex and large organisms. Indeed, life evolutionarily created Antonie. The
mostly small size and seemingly simple nature of microoganisms matches them with
the characteristics of their habitats and niches. And, although the organisms which
have remained as microbes may look very simple, we need to remember that the
microbes have had their metabolic and physiologic abilities honed by evolution to
optimally fit the requirements of life in such challenging places as hypersaline
environments (Plominsky et al. 2018).
1 Our Living World Rests upon a Foundation of Microorganisms: The Constant. . .
5
us. The names prokaryote and eukaryote reportedly have come to us from a book by
Édouard Chatton. Only a few copies of Chatton’s book are known to still exist.
Although the current coronavirus pandemic has prevented me from personally
verifying its text, these words should be on approximately page 50 of Chatton’s
book (Chatton 1938).
Les protistologues s’accordent, aujourd’hui, à considérer les Flagellés autotrophes, comme
les plus primitifs des Protozoaires à noyau vrai, des Eucaryotes (ensemble qui embrasse
aussi les Végétaux et les Métazoaires), parce qu’ils sont les seuls à pouvoir faire la synthèse
totale de leur protoplasme à partir du milieu minéral. Les organismes hétérotrophes sont
donc subordonnés à leur existence, ainsi qu’à celle des Procaryotes chimiotrophes et
autotrophes (Bactéries nitrifiantes et sulfureuses, Cyanophycées). (Chatton 1938)
English translation:
[The protistologists agree today to consider the autotrophic Flagellates as the most primitive
of the Protozoa with a true nucleus, of the Eukaryotes (group which also embraces Vegetals
and Metazoans), because they are the only ones able to make the total synthesis of their
protoplasm from the mineral medium. Heterotrophic organisms are therefore subordinate to
their existence, as well as to that of the chemotrophic and autotrophic prokaryotes (Nitrifying
and sulfurous bacteria, Cyanophyceae).] I will add to that text a notation that Cyanophyceae
refers to members of the phylum Cyanobacteria.
The possible routes that may have led to formation of mitochondria and chloroplasts have been summarized by William Martin and his colleagues (Zimorski et al.
2014).
Microbes successfully have filled our shared world with life.
1.1.3 Discovering the Metabolic Processes of Life
Some of lifes metabolic process were relatively easy for scientists to discern, such as
the combustion of carbohydates to carbon dioxide. But, the revealing of microbes
and their metabolic process has not always been easy and some of those processes do
yet remain hidden.
Discovering the individual nature of the smallest members of life on this planet
began with the skill of Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek and his initial invention of
a microscope (van Leewenhoeck 1677). Although life would have begun relatively
small and seemingly simple, the process of evolution has seen the creation of some
very complex and large organisms. Indeed, life evolutionarily created Antonie. The
mostly small size and seemingly simple nature of microoganisms matches them with
the characteristics of their habitats and niches. And, although the organisms which
have remained as microbes may look very simple, we need to remember that the
microbes have had their metabolic and physiologic abilities honed by evolution to
optimally fit the requirements of life in such challenging places as hypersaline
environments (Plominsky et al. 2018).
1 Our Living World Rests upon a Foundation of Microorganisms: The Constant. . .
5