American Lobster, Homarus americanus, normal berried adult female.
The carapace of a normal lobster is sleek and slippery to the touch: Normal Adult Female. The slipperiness of the lobster to the touch is based on an unstirred layer of dissolved calcite, a crystaline form of CaCO3. The dissolved carbonate takes a proton from water becoming bicarbonate and leaving a hydroxyl which can raise the pH of the unstirred layer to be pH 9 or 10.
CaCO3 + H2O = Ca2+ + HCO3-1 + OH-1
This high pH layer inhibits the life functions of bacteria which find it hard to settle and form a biofilm on the lobster carapace. Motility of bacteria depend on the bacterial flagellum which is a rotary engine driven by protons. High pH turns off the source of energy for this Wankel engine. Many nutrients are co-transported into the bacterium with protons and high pH turns off bacterial nutrition.
Publicado el
febrero 17, 2019 03:47 MAÑANA
por
joekunk
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