Aerobic organism

An aerobic organism or aerobe is an organism that has an oxygen based metabolism. Oxygen radicals are toxic, and only organism which express radical-scavenging enzymes (like catalase and superoxide dismutase) can survive in its presence.

• Obligate aerobes strictly depend on energy production through aerobic respiration and are unable to survive for more than a few minutes in the absence of oxygen
• facultative aerobes can use oxygen, but are able to survive in its absence, through e.g. fermentation.
• Microaerophiles are organisms that may use oxygen, but only at low concentration.
• Aerotolerant organisms can survive in the presence of oxygen, but do not use it as electron acceptor.

Almost all animals, most fungi and several bacteria are obligate aerobes. Most anaerobic organisms are bacteria. Being an obligate aerobe, although being advantageous from the energetical point of view, means also obligatory facing high levels of oxidative stress.

Yeast is an example of a facultative aerobe. Individual human cells are also facultative aerobes: they switch to lactic acid fermentation if oxygen is not available. However, for the whole organism this cannot be sustained for long, and humans are therefore obligate aerobes.

Examples of Obligate Aerobic Bacteria: Nocardia (Gram positive), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram negative), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Acid Fast), and Bacillus (Gram positive).

Aerobes, in a process known as cellular respiration, use oxygen to oxidize substrates (for example sugars and fats) in order to obtain energy.

See also

• Anaerobic organism
• Facultative anaerobic organism
• Fermentation (biochemistry)
• Microaerophile
• Catalase
• Superoxide dismutase