Mitochondrial Respiration

Respiration

• Glycolysis

• Citric acid cycle/kreb’s cycle

Glycolysis -- partial
oxidation of a hexose
phosphate and triose
phosphates to produce an
organic acid: pyruvate
(occurs in the cytosol.
Note- pyruvate = pyruvic
acic)

Citric acid cycle

complete oxidation of
pyruvate to produce
CO2, H2O, reducing
power (NADH, FADH2)
and ATP
 glycolysis

Citric acid
cycle =
TCA= Kreb’s
Cycle
 No O2 required

Anaerobic respiration,
O2 required
or fermentation
 Glycogen Glucose
Hexokinase or Glucokinase
Glucose-6-Pase
Glucose-1-P Glucose-6-P Glucose + Pi
Glycolysis
Pathway
Pyruvate

Inhibition of the Glycolysis enzyme

Phosphofructokinase when [ATP] is high prevents
breakdown of glucose in a pathway whose main role is
to make ATP.
It is more useful to the cell to store glucose as glycogen
when ATP is plentiful.
Anaerobic
catabolism L a c ta te D e h y d ro g e n a s e
O O O O
C NADH + H+ NAD+ C
C O HC OH
CH 3 CH 3
p y ru v a te la c ta te
Lactate is also a significant energy source for neurons
in the brain.
Astrocytes, which surround and protect neurons in the
brain, ferment glucose to lactate and release it.
Lactate taken up by adjacent neurons is converted to
pyruvate that is oxidized via Krebs Cycle.
 Anaerobic catabolism

P y ru v a te A lc o h o l
D e c a rb o x y la s e D e h y d ro g e n a se
O O
CO 2 H NADH + H+ NAD+ H
C O
C H C OH
C O
CH 3 CH 3
CH 3
p y ru v a te a c e ta ld e h y d e e th a n o l

Some anaerobic organisms metabolize pyruvate

to ethanol, which is excreted as a waste product.
NADH is converted to NAD+ in the reaction
catalyzed by Alcohol Dehydrogenase.
There is evidence that glycolysis predates the existence of O2
in the Earth’s atmosphere and organelles in cells (it
happens in the cytoplasm, not in some specialized
organelle) and it is a metabolic pathway found in all
living organisms.
Comparing energy yield:
Things I’d like you to know about the citric acid cycle

• Like the Calvin cycle, it is a cycle (the Calvin cycle involves

energy capture through incorporation of carbon into small sugars,
which are reduced by energy from photosynthetic electron
transport. The citric acid cycle involves energy release through
loss of carbon from small organic acids which are oxidized,
producing electrons to be used in mitochondrial electron
transport).
• The cycle is “flexible”. The organic acids are all involved in a
very large number of other biosynthetic pathways
• Most of the ATP production is through electron transport in
mitochondrial membranes (cristae)
• As in photosynthesis, regulation energy production/consumption
is critical
 3C This is all
Lignin; alkaloids; occurring in the
flavanoids matrix of the
2C mitochondrion
4C Fatty acids; lipids;
6C carotenoids;
abscisic acid

N-assimilation,
4C amino acid
formation
5C (proteins),
chlorophylls
 This complex is blocked
by cyanide ATP
synthase

Most of the ATP produced in respiration comes from electrons of NADH

and FADH2 that enter a membrane-bound electron transport process,
producing a membrane potential, leading to oxidative phosphorylation
Mitochondrial electron transport
is controlled by both “supply”
(availability of carbohydrates and
organic acids) and demand
“demand”– (energy requirements
for growth, maintenance and
transport processes)
Demand regulation: when energy
demand for growth, maintenance
and transport processes is high,
ATP is rapidly consumed,
producing ADP, which increases
the rate of respiration)
An “alternate path” (aka, the cyanide resistant path) de-couples
respiratory electron transport from ATP production. This
pathway produces O2, but not ATP. It can serve as an “energy
overflow valve” when supply exceeds demand – but it results in a
net loss of energy from the plant. Is this a relic “error” or an
important physiological function?

An “alternative
oxidase” (AOX)
accepts electrons
coming from
complex II,
preventing them from
getting to complex III
 Respiration and Plant Carbon
Balance

On a whole-plant basis, respiration

consumes from 30% to 70% of total fixed
carbon

Leaves account for about half of the total

(Is it possible to increase net growth by reducing

respiration rates?)
The amount of
photosynthate
consumed in
respiration varies
with tissue type and
with environmental
conditions.

When nutrients are

limiting, respiration
rates in roots
increase
dramatically.
Q10: the multiplicative
change in respiration
over a 10 degree C
change in
temperature

Mitochondrial
Respiration (like
photorespiration)
increases rapidly
with temperature.
Conifer roots appear to have relatively low capacity
to acclimate to low temperatures (Lambers et al.
1996)

In cold-hardened conifers, needles maintain low

respiration rates even during warm periods,
apparently maintaining higher concentrations of
sugars (the higher osmotic potential lowers the
freezing point and helps maintain turgor during
water stress)
Respiration is often subdivided into Growth,
Maintenance and Transport costs

Growth respiration: (a.k.a. “construction

respiration”) – a “fixed cost” that depends on the
tissues or biochemicals that are synthesized.

Maintenance respiration: The cost of maintaining

existing tissues and functions

Do high maintenance “costs” reduce growth of large trees?

Why high CO2 concentrations
reduce rates of mitochondrial
respiration?