2023-10-07 04:00:06
Death is not the end for the trillions of microorganisms that live with us. These microbes, essential to our well-being while alive, continue to play a crucial role in recycling our body, thus allowing the vie to prosper. Illustration image Pixabay
When we die, our heart stops pumping blood, depriving our cells ofoxygen. This phenomenon triggers a process called autolysis, where cells begin to digest themselves. THE bacteria symbiotics that lived in our intestinenotably a class called Clostridia, then feed on the products of this decomposition cellular.
If the body is buried, these microbes are released into the soil, where they encounter a new microbial community. Unlike the stable, warm environment of our body, the ground is a difficult environment. However, studies have shown that the DNA of these microbes can be detected in the soil for montheven years, after the body has decomposed.
The decomposition of dead animals is a key process in all ecosystems. It fuels biodiversity and constitutes a link important in food chains. Our own microbes participate in this cycle by converting large molecules containingnitrogenlike proteins, in ammonium. Nitrifying microbes in the soil can then convert this ammonium into nitrate.
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