MOHD FIRDAUS ISMAIL, PhD

Lecture Outline

RESPIRATION
PLANT METABOLISM
1. PHOTOSYNTHESIS

2. RESPIRATION
The solar energy that is converted
into biochemical energy by the
process of photosynthesis today is
stored in various organic compound
such as wood, while coal and oil
contain energy originally captured
by green organism in the geological
past.
 Livingorganisms burn their energy-
containing compound in numerous,
small enzyme controlled steps that
release tiny amounts of immediately
usable energy

 Therelease energy is usually comes

from stored ATP molecules
 What is respiration
 Therelease of energy from glucose
molecules that are broken down into
individual CO2 molecules.

 The process take place in active cells 24

hours a day, regardless whether there
is or not Photosynthesis
Itstarts in the cytoplasm and end
in the mithochondria

The energy, stored in chemical

bonds containing high energy
electrons are released from simple
sugar molecules that are broken
down during a series of steps
controlled by enzymes
Role of O2 depends on the type of
respiration

No O2 : anaerobic

With O2 :aerobic

By products : CO2 and H2O

Aerobic respiration :

C6H12O6 + 6O2 CO2 +H20 + energy

Anaerobic respiration and
fermentation :
Two form of anaerobic
respiration

Release less
than 6% of the energy
from a molecule of glucose
 Fermentation :
C6H12O6 2C2H5OH + 2CO2 + ATP
enzymes
glucose ethyl alchohol

C6H12O6 2C3H6O3 + ATP

enzymes
Glucose lactic acid
MAJOR STEPS IN
RESPIRATION
GLYCOLISIS
 Take place in the cytoplasm

 Requires no oxygen

 Involves 3 main steps each controlled by enzymes

 A series of steps :
1. The glucose molecules becomes a fructose
molecule carrying 2 phosphates (P)
2. This sugar (fructose), molecule is split into
two 3-carbon fragments called
glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GA3P)
3. Some hydrogen, energy and water are
removed from these 3-carbon fragments,
leaving pyruvic acid
 Four ATP molecules are produced

 The hydrogen ion and high-energy

electron release during the process are
picked up and temporarily held by an
acceptor molecule NAD (nicotinamide
adenine dinucleotide)

 What happen to them next depends on the

kind of respiration involves
Aerobic respiration
 Inaerobic respiration,
glycolisis is followed by two
major stages : the citric acid
cycle and electron transport

 Bothoccurs in the
mitochondria
The Citric Acid (Krebs) cycle :

1. CO2 is released from pyruvic acid

2. Turning pyruvic acid into 2-carbon
acetyl group
3. This acetyl group combine with an
acceptor molecule called coenzyme
A (CoA) to produce Acetyl CoA
4. Acetyl CoA will enter the Kreb
cycle
 In the Kreb cycle :
 Functionof Acetyl CoA in to reduce
oxaloacetic acid into citric acid

 During theKreb cycle, high energy electrons

and H+ are removed

 This
removal take place from a series of
organic acid (carbon acid) and produces
compounds such as NADH and FADH2
 NADH ( nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide)

 FADH2 (flavin adenine dinucleotide)

 Both in reduced form

NADH reduced from acceptor
called NAD

FADH2 reduced from acceptor

called FAD

Both NADH and FADH2 enters the

electron transport system
The electron transport
system :
 NADH and FADH2 are
electron donors in the
electron transport system

 The electron flow through a

series of carrier molecules
down an energy gradient
Some of these electrons carried
accept protons and release them
into the inter-membrane space of
the mitochondria

Shuttling of protons in this way

causes a built up of protons
outside the mitochondrial matrix
 The built up establishing an
electrochemical gradient

 Through chemiomosis, additional

protein complexes couple the
transport of protons back into the
matrix with phosphorylation of ADP
to form ATP
As the final step, O2 acts as the
final electron acceptor,
combining with hydrogen to
produce water

By the time the process is

complete, the recoverable
energy locked in a molecule of
glucose has been released and
stored in ATP molecules.
 Thisstored energy is then available for use in
the synthesis of other molecules and for
growth, active transport etc.

 Aerobic
respiration produces a net gain of 36
ATP molecule from one molecule of glucose

 Fromeach mole (180g) of glucose, 686 Kcal of

energy is released
Anaerobic and fermentation :
 Inliving organisms, glucose molecules
often may undergo glycolisis without
enough oxygen being available to
complete aerobic respiration

 Insuch cases, the hydrogen released

during glycolisis is simply transferred
from the hydrogen acceptor molecules
back to the pyruvic acid
 This will create ethyl alcohol or
lactic acid depending on the
organism

 Ethyl alcohol in plant or fungi

 Lacticacid in animal (mainly

bacteria)
 Factors affecting :
1. Temperature
 Plays the major role
 When air temperature rise from 20°C to
30°C, the respiration rate of plants
double
 The faster respiration occurs, the faster
the energy is released from sugar
molecules
 Decrease in weight
2. Water
 Water inside the cell and their organelles
act as a medium in which enzymatic
reactions take place

 When water content becomes low,

respiration does not cease completely but
continues at a drastically reduce rate
 Thisresult in only very tiny amount of
heat being released and CO2 released

 Eg.Seeds may remain viable when

stored under dry condition

 When the become in contact with water,

imbibition takes place and respiration
increase rapidly
3.Oxygen
 If flooding reduces the
oxygen supply available for
roots of trees, then their
respiration will decrease.