Carbon Monoxide as a Basis for Primitive Life on Other Planets: a Comment
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TL;DR
It is suggested that photodissociation of carbon dioxide to CO + O may provide the necessary ingredients for a chemotrophic primary production process conducted by living creatures on other planets, analogous to the primary production function of photosynthesis on the Earth.
Abstract
WOLFGANG1 has made the interesting suggestion that photodissociation of carbon dioxide to CO + O may provide the necessary ingredients for a chemotrophic primary production process conducted by living creatures on other planets, analogous to the primary production function of photosynthesis on the Earth. Wolfgang cites Bacillus oligocarbophilus as a terrestrial precedent for biological oxidation of carbon monoxide; Hydrogenomonas carboxydovorans2 is a more recently described example.