Why does the oxygen kill bacteria that are found in an oxygen atmosphere?
2007-02-05 11:11:12 · 4 answers · asked by Brit 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Some bacteria, called anaerobic bacteria, will get killed in the presence of oxygen. They live in places where there is no oxygen, such as in the geothermal vents in the bottom of the ocean, or below your feet in the carpet. They get killed because oxygen is a strong oxidizing agent (figures).
However, most bacteria are aerobic, and oxygen won't kill these bacteria.
2007-02-08 18:12:46 · answer #1 · answered by kz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd have thought that oxygen only killed anaerobic bacteria. Only the bacteria that can live in oxygen will be in an oxygen atmosphere.
2007-02-05 19:17:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The bacteria that cannot tolerate oxygen live in lower oxygen environments such as the bowel or soil where oxygen is consumed before is reaches them.
2007-02-05 19:18:45 · answer #3 · answered by novangelis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oxygen is harmful to bacteria that lack the protective enzyme that breaks down toxic oxygen into a non toxic form
2014-10-18 13:34:35 · answer #4 · answered by Desiree 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋