For each numbered concept, you need to be able to describe:

1. What does it mean/How does it work?

2. Why is it important/How does it fit into the bigger picture?
3. What is an example from a case study, experiment, or organism?

Unit 3 Key Concepts (12-16%)

1. Enzymes work when substrate molecules of the right size and charge bind to the active site,
forming an induced fit.
2. Catalysts work by lowering the activation energy. (be able to draw an activation energy graph)
3. Enzymes can be denatured by heat, salinity, or pH.
4. How do you calculate pH? What does it measure?
5. Competitive vs. noncompetitive inhibitors
6. How does higher temperature affect reaction rate?
7. Exergonic vs. endergonic reactions
8. Anabolic vs. catabolic reactions
9. What is an electron acceptor?
10. How does a chemiosmotic gradient work?
11. Substrate-level phosphorylation vs. oxidative phosphorylation
12. Photosynthetic pigmentation
13. What are the different goals of photosystems II and I?

Draw out a diagram of cellular respiration in a eukaryotic cell. Here is my summary in words of the
process.

 Glycolysis occurs in the cytoplasm. Starting with a glucose molecule, 2 ATPs are used to energize
the molecule and break it into two halves. 2 NAD+ grabs electrons and protons, forming 2
NADH. The process generates 4 ATP and 2 pyruvate.
a. In anaerobic respiration (fermentation), the pyruvate is converted either into alcohol +
carbon dioxide or lactic acid. The purpose of fermentation is to regenerate NAD+.
 The 2 pyruvates are shuttled into the mitochondrial matrix, and is first processed into acetyl-
CoA, producing 2 carbon dioxide and 2 NADH.
 The acetyl-CoA enters the Krebs cycle, which produces 2 ATP, 3 NADH, and 1 FADH 2 per turn,
making it a total of 6 NADH and 2 FADH 2 for the glucose we are tracking.
 The electron acceptors (NADH and FADH2) donate their electrons and protons to the electron
transport chain (ETC), which pumps protons into the intermembrane space, creating a
chemiosmotic gradient. The protons come back into the matrix through ATP synthase, which
helps produce ATP.
a. Every NADH produces an average of 3 ATP, and every FADH 2 produces 2 on average. This
means that 30 ATP is the average yield of oxidative phosphorylation.
 Total theoretical yield: 2 ATP + 2 ATP + 30 ATP = 34 ATP

Draw out a diagram of photosynthesis (light reactions and Calvin cycle). Here is my summary in words of
the process.

 Light reaction: Goal is to fuel the Calvin cycle with ATP and NADPH (electrons!)
 o Photosystem II: Water in the thylakoid space is split with the help of photon energy
(photolysis), charging up the electrons until they hit the primary acceptor.
o ETC: Charged up electrons pass through the ETC, pumping protons from the stroma into
the thylakoid space, forming a chemiosmotic gradient. The protons will pass through
ATP synthase to produce ATP.
o PSI: The electrons must be charged up again with photon energy after passing through
the ETC. After being energized and hitting the primary acceptor, they are passed to
NADP+ reductase to produce NADPH.
 Alternatively, the electrons can be passed back to the ETC to make more ATP.
This is called cyclic electron flow (vs. linear), and is important because the Calvin
cycle uses more ATP than NADPH.
 Calvin cycle (aka light independent/”dark” reaction): Goal is to combine electrons and carbon via
carbon dioxide to produce usable sugars.
o Carbon fixation: Carbon dioxide is incorporated into a preexisting sugar through
Rubisco.
o Reduction: ATP and NADPH are used to eventually render the intermediates into a
usable sugar (G3P, but you don’t have to know this) that can eventually be formed into
glucose.
o Regeneration: ATP is used to regenerate the preexisting sugar and restart the cycle.