Life on earth is generally described as “carbon-based” because of the prominence of carbon in biomolecules. The earth’s carbon cycle is highly complex and is the subject of increasing scrutiny due to concerns about global warming. Green plants, algae, and some prokaryotes fix atmospheric carbon dioxide to generate hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of organic molecules. These biologically synthesized organic structures serve as substrates for the broad set of enzymes produced by microbes that are found in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Some of these enzymes can also use chemically synthesized organic compounds as substrates. Most compounds in the UM-BBD contain carbon.

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Wikipedia: Carbon Cycle

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Cox HH, Deshusses MA. Biomass control in waste air biotrickling filters by protozoan predation. Biotechnol Bioeng. 1999 Jan 20;62(2):216-24.