anaerobic
1. Living or active in the absence of free oxygen; SYN. anaerobiotic.
2. Not aerobic.
Able to live, grow, or take place where free oxygen is not present.
(of living organisms) Not requiring oxygen for the release of energy from food molecules such as glucose. Anaerobic organisms include many bacteria, yeasts, and internal parasites.
Obligate anaerobes such as certain primitive bacteria cannot function in the presence of oxygen; but facultative anaerobes, like the fermenting yeasts and most bacteria, can function with or without oxygen. Anaerobic organisms release much less of the available energy from their food than do aerobic organisms.
In some bacteria, instead of oxygen, an inorganic compound, such as sulfate (SO4), is the final acceptor of electrons stripped from food molecules during their breakdown.
In fermentation (as practiced by yeasts) the final acceptor is an intermediate product of the glucose molecule being degraded.
anaerobiotic
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