Gen.

Bio I 4th Quarter

Enzymes: biological catalysts that increase the reaction rate of biochemical reactions by lowering the activation
energy without being consumed in the reaction

Energy of Activation (EA): The energy used to break the bonds in the reactants so they can be reformed in the
products

Characteristics of Enzymes:
 Made of proteins
 Very specific
 Not used up in the reaction
 Increases reaction by lowering EA

The active site can lower an EA barrier by:

 Orienting substrates correctly
 Straining substrate bonds
 Providing a favorable microenvironment
 Covalently bonding to the substrate

Factors Affecting Enzyme Activity

 Temperature—As the temperature rises toward the optimum, the kinetic energy of both the enzyme and its
substrate increases. This results in more frequent collisions between the enzyme and substrate (increase
enzyme activity). However, pushing the temperature beyond the optimum causes the active site to denature
(transformed) (decrease enzyme activity) (denaturation is permanent)
 pH
 Regulatory Molecule (cofactor, inhibitor)
Cofactor: nonprotein enzyme helpers
Coenzyme: organic cofactor
Inhibitor: chemicals that inhibit the action of enzyme
Competitive inhibitor: binds to the active site competing with the substrate
Noncompetitive inhibitor: binds to any other site in the enzyme, resulting to the enzyme’s change in
shape and making it less effective

In feedback inhibition, why would a molecule turn off its own pathway?
Feedback inhibition prevents a cell from wasting chemical resources by synthesizing more product than is
needed.

Energy coupling: Energy coupling occurs when the energy produced by one reaction or system is used to drive
another reaction or system.

Endergonic: Describing a reaction that absorbs (heat) energy from its environment.

Exergonic: Describing a reaction that releases energy (heat) into its environment.

Free energy: Gibbs free energy is a thermodynamic potential that measures the useful or process-initiating work
obtainable from a thermodynamic system at a constant temperature and pressure (isothermal, isobaric).

Hydrolysis: A chemical process of decomposition involving the splitting of a bond by the addition of water.

Metabolism: the totality of an organism’s chemical reaction to sustain life

Catabolism: involves breaking down big, complex molecules into smaller, more manageable ones.

Anabolism:
Examples
- Amino acids combine to form polypeptides (protein building blocks).
- Glucose molecules link up to create glycogen (energy storage).
- Fatty acids assemble into triglycerides.

Spontaneous Process: with negative 𝚫G, moving towards equilibrium

Metabolism is never at equilibrium

ATP: adenosine triphosphate, the energy currency of the cell. Karl Lohmann was given the credit for its discovery
from liver cells.

ADP: adenosine diphosphate

Dehydration synthesis hydrolysis

When two reactions are coupled, they can be added together to give an overall reaction, and the ΔG of this reaction
will be the sum of the ΔG values of the individual reactions.

Photosynthesis is the process that converts solar energy into chemical energy. This process takes place in the
chloroplasts of cells
6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light energy → C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Autotrophs examples: Fern, kelp, euglena, cyanobacteria

Heterotrophs obtain their organic material from other organisms

Why are plants green? Plants are green because they contain chlorophyll, a pigment that reflects green light.

Stomata: microscopic pores in the leaves of plants where CO2 enters and O2 exits

Wavelength: is the distance between crests of waves

Visible light: consists of wavelengths (including those that drive photosynthesis) that produce colors we can see. The
range of visible light is 380nm to 750nm

Chlorophyll A: the main photosynthetic pigment in plants

Excitation of chlorophyll: When a pigment absorbs light, it goes from a ground state to an excited state, which is
unstable. When excited electrons fall back to the ground state, photons are given off.

Stages of Photosynthesis
1) Light-dependent Reaction: Takes place in the thylakoid
o Photosystem: large complexes of proteins and pigments (light-absorbing molecules) that are
optimized to harvest light
o primary electron acceptor in the reaction center, accepts an excited electron from chlorophyll a
o Photosystem II: functions first and is best at absorbing a wavelength of 680nm
o Photosystem I: Primary electron acceptor is chlorophyll Ao; special pair is P700
o Electron from PS I fall down the electron transport chain to a protein ferredoxin (Fd) to create
NADPH
o Products of light-dependent reaction: O2, ATP, and NADPH
o Splitting of water only happens at PS II
o The electron needed by the PS I is given of by the PS II via electron transport chain
o Oxygen and ATP are produced after PS II
o NADPH is produced after PS I
2) Calvin Cycle (or Light-independent reaction): takes place in the stroma
o The rate-limiting step of the Calvin cycle is catalyzed by: RuBisCO (this is an enzyme)
o How many glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) molecules are required to form a glucose molecule?
Answer: 2
o The first stable compound formed in the Calvin Cycle is 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3-PGA)
o Reduction reaction in Calvin Cycle results to the formation of G3P
o The final product of Calvin Cycle is Glucose. It takes two full cycles to create 1 glucose molecule
o In the regeneration reaction, 3 RuBP molecules are regenerated from 5 molecules of G3P