Respiration Summary Lesson

I am preparing this for my biology class.

The basic molecule of obtaining energy is adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, as we learned. Energy is released when a phosphate is released to yield adenosine diphosphate. This happens millions of times a second in each cell. Eventually, the ADP gains back the P04 to become ATP so the process can start over again.

Reaction:

ATP+H​2​​O⇋ADP+P​i​​+energy

We have slow twitch and fast twitch muscles in the body. Slow twitch muscles perform better in endurance events like the Marathon we just had in New York City. Each person differs in how much slow or fast twitch muscle they have. All muscles have both types of muscle fibers. Some people are better at sprinting because they have more fast twitch muscles.

These two muscle types have different processes for making ATP. Cells in both types of muscle fiber break down glucose and use the chemical energy to produce ATP, but slow-twitch muscle fibers do sow aerobically – using oxygen, while fast-twitch muscle fibers do so anaerobically.

Plants and some bacteria or algae are producers and autotrophs; they make their own nutrients – carbohydrates, proteins, fats – from inorganic material and the sun’s energy. Material includes nutrients from the soil and water. Heterotrophs derive raw material for their carbohydrates, fats and proteins from other organisms such as plants or animals. Humans are heterotrophs.

Photosynthesis

In plants, chlorophyll in chloroplasts uses the sun’s energy, carbon dioxide and water to form sugar. Plants also use nutrients and nitrogen from the soil to form proteins. So, according to what vegetable we eat, we get a different amount of grams of carbohydrates or protein.

Photosynthesis converts light energy to chemical energy. Respiration uses oxygen, released by plants into the atmosphere, to convert energy in chemical bonds of organic fuels to ATP, which is another source of chemical energy.

For both plants and animals, the production of ATP during respiration occurs in mitochondria.

Plants store energy in photosynthesis and then use respiration themselves to harvest this energy. Photosynthesis produces fuels and respiration burns them.

Starch in potatoes is a polysaccharide. Some engineers are getting ethanol fuel from plants.

Aerobic Cellular Respiration

Involves taking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide.

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O

glucose + oxygen -> carbon dioxide + water

About 32 ATP molecules are produced for each glucose molecule burned.

 

Oxidation = removal of electrons

Reduction = addition of electrons

NADH carries electrons from glucose and other molecules and deposits them on top of the electron transport chain. The molecule at the bottom of the chai drops the electrons to oxygen.

Three Parts of Cellular Respiration

A.    Glycolysis

Glycol – sweet or sugar lysis – splitting

Glucose is split into two pyruvic acids. Two molecules of ATP are used but after the electron transport cycle with NAD+, four ATPS are produced, for a net of two ATP molecules per molecule of glucose.

B.     Citric Acid Cycle or TCA or Krebs Cycle completes the breakdown of glucose.

Pyruvic acid is changed to acetic acid. Each acetic acid is attached to coenzyme A from B vitamin pantothenic acid. Acetyl CoA is formed. They enter into the citric acid cycle. CoA is recycled. Acetic acid plus carbons forms citric acid. For each acetic acid molecule, tow carbon dioxides exit. Some energy makes ATP, but more energy from NADH and FADH2 is used to make even more ATP.

Different sugars are involved.

C.     Electron transport Chain

This is a redox reaction: Electrons are lost. This is called oxidation. Glucose loses electrons to oxygen and is oxidized. Energy is released. Oxygen is one of the strongest electron grabber atoms. The electrons of the hydrogen in glucose “fall” into their  new bonds with oxygen. The path of electrons from glucose to oxygen happens with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or NAD+. NAD+ is reduced to NADH.

 This is part of the electron transport chain in mitochondria.

Figure 6.11 A concentration gradient of H+ in the inner mitochondria is the potential energy source that drives ATP production by the enzyme ATP synthase.

Figure 6.13 Carbohydrates enter respiration via glycolysis; glycerol enters respiration via glycolysis from fats; fatty acids at acetyl CoA and protein amino acids at all three.

Anaerobic Respiration

When your muscles use AATP faster than your blood can deliver oxygen, as in intense workouts or sports, anaerobic respiration takes over. Muscles can work anaerobically for 15 seconds. Then they use fermentation to generate ATP. During anaerobic respiration, there is no oxygen to accept electrons. Instead, NADH disposes of electrons by adding them to pyruvic acid produced by glycolysis. Figure 6.4

Pyruvic acid + electrons yields lactic acid. It is transported to the liver and converted back to pyruvic acid.

Anaerobic respiration yields just 2 ATPs.

Some microorganisms just need anaerobic respiration. Some of these transform milk to cheese, sour cream and yogurt. Yeast uses both respiration and fermentation. IF there is no oxygen in their environment, they resort to anaerobic respiration. Ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide are the  waste product. Beer and wine are produced this way. Yeast in bread yield carbon dioxide that causes dough to rise.