Chapter 4: The energy of life

 All cells capture and use energy

 Energy allows cells to do life’s work
 Energy- the ability to do work
 Move matter
 You need energy to rearrange atoms and traffic substances across the membrane in
precise ways
 Plant cell into gluclose molecules into long cellulose fibers
 Two energy forms
 Potential energy- saved energy to do work
 Bicycle at the top of a hill
 Compressed spring
 The covalent bonds of molecules contain a form of potential energy called
chemical energy

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 Kinetic energy- motion; any object moving possess this form of energy

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 A rolling bus

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 Contracting muscles

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 All chemical reactions that sustain life rely on collisions between moving

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molecules
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 Calories are units used to measure energy
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 One calorie is the amount of energy to raise the tempature of 1 gram of water
from 14.5 degrees C to 15.5 degrees C
 Kilocalories- a measure of the energy content in food; equal to one thousand
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calories or one food calorie

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 The laws of thermodynamics describe energy transfer

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 Thermodynamics is the study of energy transformation

 The first law of thermodynamics- law of energy conservation: energy cannot be
created or destroyed, although energy can be converted to other forms
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 Total amount of energy in the universe does not change

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 Cells constantly convert energy from one form to another. The most important
ones are photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
 Photosynthesis- plants and some microbes use carbon dioxide, water and
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kinetic energy in sunlight to produce sugars that are assembled in glucose and
other carbohydrates. These molecules contain potential energy in their
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chemical bonds.
 The second law of thermodynamics- all energy transformaitions are inefficient
because every reaction loses some energy to the surroundings as heat
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 You will lose some energy as heat with every chemical reaction
 Entropy- randomness or disorder
 Organisims can increase in complexity as long as something else decreases in
complexity by a greater amount

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  Networks of chemical reactions sustain life
 The number of chemical reactions occurring in even the simplest cell is staggering.
Thousands of reactants and products form interlocking pathways that resemble
complicated road patterns
 Metabolism- the biochemical reactions of a cell
 Chemical reactions absorb or release energy
 Biologists group metabolic reactions into two categories based on energy
requirements: endergonic and exergonic
 Endergonic reaction- requires an input of energy to proceed – typically build
complex molecules from simpler components
 Exergonic reactions- releases energy
 The products contain less energy than the reactants – such reactants break
large, complex molecules into their smaller, simpler components
 Linked oxidation and reduction reactions form electron transport chains
 Oxidation-reduction (“redox”) reactions- chemical reaction in which one reactant is

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oxidized and another is reduced

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 Oxidation- means the loss of electrons- and a corresponding loss of energy- from a

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molecule, an atom, or an ion
 Reduction- gaining of electrons (and their energy)

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 Each redox reaction links an exergonic process with an endergonic one
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 Oxidations and reductions occur simultaneously bc electrons removed from one
molecule during oxidation must join another molecule and reduce it
 Electron transport chain- each protein accepts an electron from the molecule before it,
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and passes it to the next

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 Each protein in the chain is first reduced and then oxidized

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 ATP is cellular energy currency

 Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)- a molecule whose high-energy phosphate bonds power
with many biological processes
 Couples reactions release and store energy in ATP
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 ATP is a type of nucleotide. Its components are the nitrogen-containing base adenine,
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the five-carbon sugar ribose and three phosphate groups. Each phosphate group has a
negatively charged oxygen atom. The negative charges on neighboring phosphate
groups repel one another, making the molecule unstable. It therefore releases energy
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when the covalent bonds between the phosphate break

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 Coupled reactions- simultaneous reactions in which one provides the energy that
drives the other
 Cells couple the hydrolysis of ATP to endergonic reactions. The ATP hydrolysis
reaction drives the endergonic one, which does the work or synthesis the new
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molecules
 Phosphorylating- the addition of a phosphate to a molecule
 This transfer may have either of two effects
 The presence of the phosphate may energize the target molecules, making it
more likely to bond with other molecules

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  Change in the shape of the target molecule
 ATP represents short-term energy storage
 Organisims require huge amounts of ATP
 Organisims recycle ATP at a furious pace, adding phosphate groups to ADP to
reconstitute ATP, using the ATP to drive reactions, and turning over the entire supply
every minute or so
 Enzymes speed biochemical reactions
 Enzyme- an organic molecule that catalyzes (speeds up) a chemical reaction without
being consumed
 Most are proteins, although some are made of RNA
 Many of the cell’s organelles, including mitochondria, chloroplasts, lysosomes, and
perioxsomes, are specialized sacs of enzymes
 Enzymes bring reactants together
 Activation energy- energy required for a chemical reaction to begin
 Exergonic reactions require an initial kick to get started. The enzyme brings reactants

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into contact with one another, so that less energy is required for the reaction to

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proceed.

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 Active site- the part of the enzyme to which the substrate binds
 Enzymes are very sensitive to conditions within a cell. If the pH or salt concentration

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is too high or too low, an enzyme can become denatured and stop working
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 Enzymes have partners
 Cofactors- substances that must be present for an enzyme to catalyze a chemical
reaction
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 Often oxidized or reduced during the reaction

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 Cells control reaction rates

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 Negative feedback- regulatory mechanism in which a change in a condition triggers

action that reverses the change
 As the product builds up, it inhibits the enzymes that catalyzes the initial reaction, and
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the entire pathway slows. Cells regulate amino acid production in this way
 Negative feedback works in two ways
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 Noncompetitive inhibition- change in an enzymes shape occurring when an

inhibitor binds to a site, other than the active site
 Competitive inhibition- change in an enzymes activity occurring when an
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inhibitor binds to the active site, competing with the enzymes normal substrate
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 Positive feedback-
 Membrane transport may release energy or cost energy
 A biological membrane is a phospholipid bilayer studded with proteins
 Selectively permeable- the property that enables a membrane to admit some substances
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and exclude others

 Concentration gradient- difference in solute concentrations between two adjacent regions
 If a substance moves from an area where it is more concentrated to an area where it is
less concentrated, it is said to be “moving down” or “following” its concentration
gradient. As the solute moves, the gradient disappears

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  Passive transport does not require energy input
 Passive transport- a substance moves across a membrane without the direct
expenditure of energy
 Diffusion- movement of a substance from a region where it is highly concentrated to
an area where it is less concentrated
 Simple diffusion: no proteins required
 Simple diffusion- a substance moves down its concentration gradient without the
use of a transport protein
 Substances may enter or leave cells by simple diffusion only if they can pass
freely through the membrane
 Osmosis: Diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane
 Two solutions of different concentrations may be separated by a selectively
permeable membrane, through which water but not other solutes can pass
 Osmosis- the simple diffusion of water across a selectively permeable membrane
 Isotonic- the solute concentration is the same as the inside of the cell

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 Hypotonic- solute concentration is lower than the inside of the cell

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 Hypertonic- solute concentration is higher than the cell’s cytoplasm

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 Turgor pressure- resulting force of water against a cell wall (helps keeps plants

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from wilting)
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 Faciliated diffusion: proteins required
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 Ions and polar molecules cannot freely cross the hydrophobic layer of a
membrane; instead transport proteins form channels that help these solutes cross
 Faciliated diffusion- form of passive transport in which a membrane protein
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assists the movement of a polar solute down its concentration gradient

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 Releases energy bc the solute moves from where it is more concentrated to

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where it is less concentrated

 Active transport requires energy input
 Active transport- a cell uses transport protein to move a substance against its
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concentration gradient- from where it is less concentrated to where it is more

concentrated
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 Sodium-potassium pump- protein that uses energy from ATP to transport Na+ out of
cells and K+ into cells
 Endocytosis and exocytosis use vesicles to transport substances
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 Large particles of water must enter and leave cells with the help of a transport vesicle-
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a small sac that can pinch off of, or fuse with a cell membrane
 Endocytosis- form of transport in which a membrane engulfs substances to bring
them into a cell
 Two main forms
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 Pinocytosis- the cell engulfs small amounts of fluids and dissolved substances
 Phagocytosis- cell captures and engulfs large particles
 Exocytosis- uses vesicles to transport fluids and large particles out of cells
 The vesicle moves to the cell membrane and joins with it, releasing the substance
outside of the membrane

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