Skip to main content
Biology LibreTexts

Metabolism in BIS2A#

  • Page ID
    21313
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Metabolism in General Biology

    Cellular metabolism represents roughly 1/3 of the General Biology curriculum. While this may seem like a lot, we cover very little of what a classic course in metabolism  covers, and a minuscule fraction of the metabolism that occurs on the planet. What we cover, however, is the very important foundational knowledge. You will learn about common chemical reactions that are associated with the transformation of life's molecular building blocks and about different core modes of energy transfer that you will encounter often in biology. The energy story and the design challenge rubrics introduced earlier will become increasingly important in these next few modules and beyond.

    What have we learned? How will it relate to metabolism?

    1. We have focused on the identification and chemical properties of common biological functional groups. As we dive into metabolism, this will help you be familiar with and sometimes even predict the chemical nature/reactivity of compounds you have never seen before.
    2. We have practiced recognizing and classifying molecules into four major functional groups. This will help you as we discuss how to build and break down these molecules.
    3. We have learned some basic thermodynamics. This gives us a common set of concepts with which to discuss whether a biochemical reaction or process is likely to occur, and if so in which direction and how fast. This will be critical as we consider some key reactions that take place in metabolism.
    4. We have learned and practiced the energy story rubric. This will allow us to study new biochemical reactions and to discuss them with a common, consistent language and approach which also reinforces the lessons we learned about thermodynamics.

    An overview of this section

    • We will introduce an important concept called reduction potential and you will be given the opportunity to use a redox tower. There is also a discussion on redox chemistry in your discussion manual. Use both resources.
    • We will introduce two major players in metabolism, ATP and NADH. We expect you to recognize their structures if shown on an exam.
    • We will cover the metabolic pathway glycolysis. Keep in mind that we want you to look at any reaction and tell us an energy story of that reaction. You should not try to memorize these pathways (though it will help to remember some big picture things - we will stress these). Often we will give you the pathway as a figure on the exams. Glycolysis produces 2 ATP via a process called substrate level phosphorylation, 2 NADH and 2 pyruvate compounds.
    • We will use the reactions of the TCA cycle to create multiple examples of energy stories. The TCA cycle will also produce more ATP, NADH and oxidize glucose into CO2.
    • We will look at an alternative pathway to that of the TCA cycle, fermentation. Here, for the first time, we will see NADH used as a reactant in a metabolic reaction.
    • We will follow NADH to the end of its journey, as it donates its electrons to the electron transport chain (ETC). In this module, you will need to use a redox tower. The ETC produces a proton gradient. No ATP is directly generated in this process. However, the proton gradient is then used by the cell to run an enzyme called ATP synthase, which catalyzes the reaction ADP + Pi --> ATP. This method of ATP production (called oxidative phosphorylation) results in more ATP being produced than through substrate level phosphorylation.
    • And finally, we will go through the process of photosynthesis.

    This page titled Metabolism in BIS2A# is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Marc Facciotti.

    • Was this article helpful?