Chapter 15 Metabolism: Basic Concepts and Design

Matching Questions
Use the following to answer questions 1-10:

Choose the correct answer from the list below. Not all of the answers will be used.
a) O2
b) niacin
c) phototrophs
d) ATP
e) CO2
f) coenzyme A
g) vitamin
h) amphibolic
i) ADP
j) NADPH
k) chemotrophs
l) FAD

____________ These organisms use energy from sunlight and convert it to

chemical energy.

Ans: c
Section: Introduction

____________ These organisms obtain chemical energy from oxidation of

foodstuffs.

Ans: k
Section: Introduction

____________ Pathways that can be either anabolic or catabolic depending

on the energy conditions of the cell.

Ans: h
Section: 15.1
 ____________ In aerobic organisms, this is the ultimate acceptor of
electrons.

Ans: a
Section: 15.3

____________ In aerobic metabolism, this is the product of oxidation of

carbon containing fuels.

Ans: e
Section: 15.3

____________ This vitamin is the electron carrier, NADH.

Ans: b
Section: 15.4

____________ This substance is the electron donor in most reductive

biosyntheses.

Ans: j
Section: 15.4

____________ This compound serves as an acyl carrier in metabolism.

Ans: f
Section: 15.4

____________ This is the “chemical currency” of metabolism.

Ans: d
Section: 15.2

____________ These small organic compounds are required in the diet of

higher organisms and are components of coenzymes.

Ans: g
Section: 15.4
Fill in the Blank Questions

_____________ is the first stage of catabolism and involves the degradation

of macromolecules in food into smaller units.
Ans: Digestion Section: 15.3

A thermodynamically unfavorable reaction can be driven by a

thermodynamically favorable reaction to which it is ________________.
Ans: coupled Section: 15.1

ATP is considered an “energy rich” compound because it contains two

______________ bonds.
Ans: phosphoanhydride Section: 15.2

In the cell, the hydrolysis of an ATP molecule in a coupled reaction changes

the equilibrium ratio of products to reactants by a factor of __________.
Ans: 108 Section: 15.2

In vertebrate muscle, _________________ serves as a reservoir of

high-potential phosphoryl groups that can be readily transferred to ADP to
regenerate ATP.
Ans: creatine phosphate Section: 15.2

In the second stage of catabolism, numerous small molecules are converted

into _________________, a central molecule in metabolism.
Ans: acetyl CoA Section: 15.3

FAD is an electron carrier that is derived from the vitamin ________________

.
Ans: riboflavin Section:15.4

The Acetyl group is attached to Coenzyme A by a _______________ bond.

Ans: thioester Section:15.4

ATP-generating (catabolic) pathways are inhibited by a ________ (high, low)

energy charge.
Ans: high Section:15.4
 _____________ reactions form new bonds by using free energy from ATP
cleavage.
Ans: Ligation Section: 15.4

Multiple Choice Questions

The major purpose(s) for which organisms require energy:

A) performance of mechanical D) a and c
work
B) active transport E) a, b, and c
C) synthesis of biomolecules
Ans: E Section: 15.1

Reaction pathways that transform fuels into cellular energy:

A) anabolic D) All of the above.
B) catabolic E) None of the above.
C) allobolic
Ans: B Section: 15.1

Metabolic pathways that require energy and are often biosynthetic

processes:
A) anabolic D) All of the above.
B) catabolic E) None of the above.
C) allobolic
Ans: A Section: 15.1

Electron carrier(s) that contain(s) portions of ATP:

A) NAD+ B) FAD C) riboflavin D) a and b E) a, b, and c
Ans: D Section: 15.2

What is the standard-state free energy (ΔG°′) for the hydrolysis of ATP to
ADP?
A) +45.6 kJ/mol. D) 15.6 kJ/mol.
B) −45.6 kJ/mol. E)  kJ/mol.
C)  kJ/mol.
Ans: C Section: 15.2
 Which of the following molecule(s) have a higher phosphoryl-transfer
potential than ATP?
A) phosphoenolpyruvate D) a and b
B) creatine phosphate E) a, b, and c
C) 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate
Ans: E Section: 15.3

This energy source powers most ATP synthesis.

A) electrochemical potential of ion gradients
B) electrochemical potential of stored glycogen
C) high-energy intermediates
D) All of the above.
E) None of the above.
Ans: A Section: 15.3

The reduced form of flavin adenine dinucleotide is

A) FADH. B) FAD. C) FADH++. D) FADH2. E) None of the above.
Ans: D Section: 15.4

Which of the following is the electron donor used for reductive biosynthesis.
A) NADH D) CoASH
B) NADPH E) ATP
C) FADH2
Ans: B Section: 15.4

The metabolic type of reaction that involves the addition of a functional

group across a double bond or the removal of a functional group to form a
double bond.
A) isomerization. D) lyase
B) group transfer. E) None of the above.
C) ligation requiring ATP.
Ans: D Section: 15.4

An example of an isomerization reaction would be

A) the conversion of succinate to fumarate using FAD.
B) the addition of carbon dioxide to pyruvate to form oxaloacetate.
C) the conversion of citrate to isocitrate.
D) the hydrolysis of a peptide bond.
E) none of the above.
 Ans: C Section: 15.3

Which activated carriers contain adenosine phosphate units?

A) NADH B) FADH2 C) coenzyme A D) a and b E) a, b, and c
Ans: E Section: 15.4

Which of the following is an example of an oxidation reaction?

A)

B)

C)

D) Ala-Ser + H2O → Ala + Ser

E) None of the above.
Ans: A Section: 15.4

Metabolic processes are regulated by

A) transcriptional regulation of the amount of enzyme.
B) allosteric control of enzyme activity.
C) Accessibility of substrates by compartmentalization.
D) a and b.
E) a, b, and c.
Ans: E Section: 15.4

Some of the mechanisms by which enzyme catalytic activity is controlled.

A) allosteric control D) a and c
B) feedback inhibition E) a, b, and c
C) covalent modification
Ans: E Section: 15.4

Short-Answer Questions
 Explain how a metabolic pathway can contain an energetically unfavorable
reaction yet still be occur.
Ans: The free-energy changes of the individual steps in a pathway are
summed to determine the overall free-energy change. Thus, a step that
might not normally occur can be driven if it is coupled to a
thermodynamically stable reaction.
Section: 15.1

Why is ATP frequently complexed with magnesium or manganese ions?

Ans: These divalent ions complex to the negatively charged oxygens found on
the phosphate groups.
Section: 15.1

Draw the structure of ATP and identify the phosphoanhydride bond(s).

Ans:

An example can be found in Figure 15.3 in the textbook.

Section: 15.1

What general factors contribute to the high phosphoryl-group transfer of

ATP?
Ans: Resonance stabilization, electrostatic repulsion, and stabilization due to
hydration are important.
Section: 15.2

Draw the resonance structures of orthophosphate and explain why these

structures are not significant in ATP.
Ans: The answer would be as observed in Figure 15.4 in the textbook. Each
resonance structure would have an overall –2 charge. These structures
do not contribute to the stabilization of ATP because the positively
charged oxygen is next to a positively charged phosphorus.
Section: 15.2
 How much ATP is used daily by a typical human? How is it regenerated?
Ans: A human uses 40 kg of ATP per day. There is only about 100 g ATP
available, thus the ATP is used and regenerated rapidly. ATP is
regenerated from ADP and Pi, using the energy from catabolic
processes.
Section: 15.2

What is oxidative phosphorylation?

Ans: The process by which ATP is formed by the phosphorylation of ADP
using the energy of the proton gradient that was generated by the
transfer of electrons from reduced coenzymes to oxygen.
Section: 15.3

What are the stages for extracting energy from food?

Ans: There are three stages: 1) Large food molecules are broken down into
smaller units, such as amino acids, carbohydrates, and fatty acids. 2) The
small units are further broken down to a subset of small molecules that
are critical to metabolism, such as acetyl CoA. 3) ATP is produced by
oxidation of the acetyl units.
Section: 15.3

What is an active carrier? Provide two examples.

Ans: Activated carriers are molecules that are used as the carrier molecules
of a particular molecule, atom, electron, or protons. One example would
be ATP, which is the activated carrier of phosphoryl groups. Flavin
derivatives (FAD) and nicotinamide derivatives (NAD+) are examples of
activated carriers of electrons.
Section: 15.3

Compare ATP to acetyl CoA.

Ans: Both are activated carriers: Acetyl CoA carries acetyl groups, with high
acetyl group-transfer potential, whereas ATP carries phosphate groups
with high phosphoryl-group transfer. Both molecules are common to
several pathways.
Section: 15.3

How are metabolic processes unified? How can you use this to help learn and
understand biochemistry?
Ans: Common molecules and mechanisms are evident in motifs and patterns
throughout metabolic pathways. Understanding the logic of catabolic
and anabolic paths, and knowing common molecules (such as ATP) and
mechanisms (oxidation-reduction), makes it simpler to understand the
myriad paths of metabolism.
Section: 15.4

List five activated carriers in metabolism, and give the vitamins that are the
precursors of these carriers.
Ans: Activated carrier Vitamin
NADH and NADPH niacin
FADH2 riboflavin
acetyl-coenzyme A pantothenate
biotin biotin
tetrahydrofolate folic acid
Section: 15.3 and Table 15.2

Which of the metabolic chemical reactions is most commonly used to break

down foodstuffs?
Ans: Hydrolysis reactions are commonly used to break down molecules into
smaller components.
Section: 15.3

How is metabolism controlled?

Ans: The amounts of enzymes and their catalytic activity are two controllable
aspects of metabolism. Substrate accessibility is also important.
Section: 15.4

If many compounds are common to both anabolic and catabolic paths, how
can metabolism be controlled?
Ans: The enzymes and their activities can be controlled by the energy charge
in the cell. The biosynthetic and catabolic paths are different from each
other and may even be located in different compartments in the cell.
Thus the two opposing processes can be controlled independently.
Section: 15.4