dismutation

American  

[dis-myoo-tay-shuhn] / ˌdɪs myʊˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

plural

dismutations

1. the simultaneous oxidation and reduction of a substance during a biological process such as metabolism.

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Other Word Forms

• dismutational adjective

Example Sentences

Jupiter’s moon Europa has a deep, frozen ocean; sunlight may not penetrate it, but oxygen could potentially be produced there by microbial dismutation instead of photosynthesis.

From Scientific American

Regardless of how important dismutation turns out to be elsewhere in the universe, Lloyd is astonished by how much the new findings defy preconceived notions about life’s needs, and by the scientific cluelessness they reveal about one of the planet’s biggest biospheres.

From Scientific American

Recent laboratory experiments involving artificial microbe communities, however, revealed that the oxygen produced by dismutation can leak out of the cells and into the surrounding medium to the benefit of other oxygen-dependent organisms, in a kind of symbiotic process.

From Scientific American

When microbes break down compounds this way, it’s called dismutation.

From Scientific American

The finding fills a crucial gap in our understanding of how the huge subterranean biosphere has evolved, and how dismutation contributes to the cycle of compounds moving through the global environment.

From Scientific American