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FUNGAL METABOLISM
METABOLISM
Metabolism is the chemical reactions in the body's cells that change food into energy. Our bodies
need this energy to do everything from moving to thinking to growing.
The chemical changes that take place in a cell or an organism.
During this complex biochemical process, calories in food and beverages are combined with oxygen to
release the energy your body needs to function.
There are two categories that make up metabolism. Which are Anabolism and catabolism.
ANABOLISM
Anabolism is the set of biochemical reactions that construct molecules from smaller components.
Anabolic reactions are endergonic, meaning they require an input of energy to progress and are not
spontaneous. This is also called biosynthesis.
Typically, anabolic and catabolic reactions are coupled, with catabolism providing the activation
energy for anabolism. The hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) powers many anabolic processes.
In general, condensation and reduction reactions are the mechanisms behind anabolism.
Anabolism has several examples and these are shown below.
Anabolic reactions are those that build complex molecules from simple ones. Cells use these processes to
make polymers, grow tissue, and repair damage. Such as;
1. Glycerol reacts with fatty acids to make lipids:
CH2OHCH(OH)CH2OH + C17H35COOH  →  CH2OHCH(OH)CH2OOCC17H35 
2. Simple sugars combine to form disaccharides and water:
C6H12O6 + C6H12O6   →  C12H22O11 + H2O
3. Amino acids join together to form dipeptides:
NH2CHRCOOH + NH2CHRCOOH →  NH2CHRCONHCHRCOOH + H2O 
4. Carbon dioxide and water react to form glucose and oxygen in photosynthesis:
6CO2 + 6H2O  →  C6H12O6 + 6O2.

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 CATABOLISM
Catabolism is the set of biochemical reactions that break down complex molecules into simpler
ones. Catabolic processes are thermodynamically favorable and spontaneous, so cells use them to
generate energy or to fuel anabolism. Catabolism is exergonic, meaning it releases heat and works via
hydrolysis and oxidation.
Cells can store useful raw materials in complex molecules, use catabolism to break them down,
and recover the smaller molecules to build new products. For example, catabolism of proteins, lipids,
nucleic acids, and polysaccharides generates amino acids, fatty acids, nucleotides, and monosaccharides,
respectively. Sometimes waste products are generated, including carbon dioxide, urea, ammonia, acetic
acid, and lactic acid.
Catabolism also consists of examples shown below.
Catabolic processes are the reverse of anabolic processes. They are used to generate energy for
anabolism, release small molecules for other purposes, detoxify chemicals, and regulate metabolic
pathways. For example:
1. During cellular respiration, glucose and oxygen react to yield carbon dioxide and water
C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O
2. In cells, hydroxide peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen:
2H2O2  →  2H2O + O2

GLYCOLYSIS
This is a cascade of reactions that’s converts glucose into two pyruvate molecules or is a series
of reactions that extract energy from glucose by splitting it into two three-carbon molecules called
pyruvates.
Glycolysis is an ancient metabolic pathway, meaning that it evolved long ago, and it is found in
the great majority of organisms alive today.
In organisms that perform cellular respiration, glycolysis is the first stage of this process. However,
glycolysis doesn’t require oxygen, and many anaerobic organisms that do not use oxygen also have this
pathway.

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 Glycolysis takes place in the cytosol of a cell, and it can be broken down into two main phases:
the energy-requiring phase, above the dotted line in the image below, and the energy-releasing phase,
below the dotted line.

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 KREBS CYCLE
The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, also known as the Krebs or citric acid cycle, is the main
source of energy for cells and an important part of aerobic respiration. The cycle harnesses the available
chemical energy of acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl CoA) into the reducing power of nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide (NADH).
Like the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl CoA, the citric acid cycle takes place in the matrix of the
mitochondria. Almost all of the enzymes of the citric acid cycle are soluble, with the single exception of
the enzyme succinate dehydrogenase, which is embedded in the inner membrane of the mitochondrion.
Unlike glycolysis, the citric acid cycle is a closed loop: the last part of the pathway regenerates the
compound used in the first step.
The eight steps of the cycle are a series of redox, dehydration, hydration and decarboxylation
reactions that produce two carbon dioxide molecules, one GTP/ATP and reduced forms of NADH and
FADH2. This is considered an aerobic pathway because the NADH and FADH2 produced must transfer
their electrons to the next pathway in the system, which will use oxygen. If this transfer does not occur,
the oxidation steps of the citric acid cycle also do not occur. Note that the citric acid cycle produces very
little ATP directly and does not directly consume oxygen.

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 ELECTRON TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND OXIDATIVE PHOSPHORYLATION.

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 ELECTRON TRANSPORT SYSTEM
The sequential transfer of electrons especially by cytochromes in cellular respiration from an
oxidizable substrate to molecular oxygen by a series of oxidation-reduction reactions.
In the electron transport chain, electrons are passed from one molecule to another, and energy
released in these electron transfers is used to form an electrochemical gradient. In chemiosmosis, the
energy stored in the gradient is used to make ATP.

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 OXIDATIVE PHOSPHORYLATION
Oxidative phosphorylation is the process by which ATP synthesis is coupled to the movement
of electrons through the mitochondrial electron transport chain and the associated consumption of
oxygen.
Oxidative phosphorylation is linked to a process known as electron transport. The electron
transport system also called the Electron Transport Chain, located in the inner mitochondrial membrane,
transfers electrons donated by the reduced molecules NADH and FADH2 through a series of electrons
acceptors, to oxygen. As we shall see, movement of electrons through system essentially sets up a
gradient across a membrane that is then used to make ATP.

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 The NADH and FADH2 that acts as the fuel for this process comes from other parts of metabolism for
energy. The end products are ATP and water.

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 REFERNCES
Berg, J. M.; Tymoczko, J. L.; Stryer, L. (2007). Biochemistry (6th Ed.). New York: Freeman.

Cavalcanti JH, Esteves-Ferreira AA, Quinhones CG, Pereira-Lima IA, Nunes-Nesi A, Fernie AR, Araújo
WL. (2014) Evolution and functional implications of the tricarboxylic acid cycle as revealed by
phylogenetic analysis. Genome Biol Evol. 

Spydevold S, Davis EJ, Bremer J. (1996) Replenishment and depletion of citric acid cycle
intermediates in skeletal muscle. Indication of pyruvate carboxylation. Eur J Bioche
Ebenhöh O, Heinrich R ( 2001). Evolutionary optimization of metabolic pathways. Theoretical
reconstruction of the stoichiometry of ATP and NADH producing systems. Bulletin of Mathematical
Biology

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