Pure Appl. Chem., 2000, Vol. 72, No. 10, pp. 1835-1838
http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/pac200072101835
Endothermic microbial growth. A calorimetric investigation of an extreme case of entropy-driven microbial growth
Abstract:
Life is almost always associated with the generation of heat. Thus far, all chemotrophic life forms that have been studied in calorimeters were found to be exothermic. Certain literature reports have even cast doubt on the existence of endothermic growth, even though thermodynamic principles do not rule it out. The present report describes the first experiments demonstrating the actual existence of chemotrophic life forms that take up heat rather than produce it.