Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Energy and ATP
Energy and ATP
Energy and ATP
ATP
1. Structure
ATP consists of the organic base adenine and the pentose sugar ribose.
Together these make the nucleoside adenosine. This is combined
with three phosphate groups. ATP is therefore an
activated phosphorylated nucleotide.
Processes in cells that require energy are linked to chemical reactions that
yield energy by an intermediary molecule, ATP. Using one type of molecule
to transfer energy to many different energy-requiring processes makes it
easier for these processes to be controlled and coordinated. All organisms
use ATP as their energy currency: it is a universal energy currency. ATP is
never stored. Glucose and fatty acids are short-term energy stores, while
glycogen, starch and triglycerides are long-term stores.
Hydrolysis of ATP.
ATP can be synthesised from ADP and an inorganic phosphate group (Pi)
using energy, and hydrolysed to ADP and phosphate to release energy. This
interconversion is all-important in providing energy for a cell. Hydrolysis of
the terminal phosphate group of ATP releases 30.5 kJ mol–1 of energy for
cellular work:
Removing the second phosphate, giving AMP, also releases 30.5 kJ mol–1 of
energy, but removing the last phosphate yields only 14.2 kJ mol–1. The
energy released comes not simply from these bonds, but from the chemical
potential energy of the molecule as a whole.
Each cell has only a tiny quantity of ATP in it at any one time. The cell does
not import ATP, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) or adenosine monophosphate
(AMP). With few exceptions, each cell must produce its own ATP by
respiration and recycle it very rapidly. Because it is a small, watersoluble
molecule, it is easily moved from where it is made in a cell to where it is
needed.
3. The roles
Metabolism
The total of all the biochemical reactions needed for an organism to stay
alive is its
metabolism.
metabolism = anabolism + catabolism
Syllabus 2016-2018
12.1 Energy