Photosynthesis and Respiration

What is the name given to the types of organisms that can use photosynthesis to produce glucose? In addition, provide THREE specific examples. Organisms that carry out photosynthesis are known as phototrophs (Soper, 2003, p. 15). In the ecological sense they can also be called producers. Three examples are plants, cyanobacteria such as Anabaena, and algae such as Clorella (Sopers, 2003, p. 16). • What is the name given to the types of organisms that exclusively use aerobic cellular respiration to break down glucose to produce ATP for energy?

In addition, provide THREE specific examples. Organisms that exclusively use aerobic cellular respiration are known as obligate aerobes (Winn & Koneman, 2006, p. 878). These include humans, moulds like Penicillium, and the causative organism of tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Soper, 2003, p. 378). • If oxygen is lacking, how might cells meet their energy needs through fermentation? Explain and give some examples of cells that can do this.

In the absence of oxygen, some aerobic organisms might shift to an anaerobic mode of cellular respiration, also known as fermentation. In this mode, molecules of glucose undergo the first step of aerobic respiration, i. e. glycolysis, resulting in two ATP and two reduced NAD molecules. The end product of glycolysis, pyruvate, receives a hydrogen from these NAD molecules, and no more energy is produced. Examples of this kind of respiration can be seen in human cells, yeasts and tapeworms (a parasite in the human gut) (Soper, 2003, p.

270). • Both photosynthesis and aerobic cellular respiration are examples of complex metabolic pathways, consisting of many linked chemical reactions that require enzymes to function. Briefly, explain two (ONLY TWO) attributes of enzymes in catalyzing chemical reactions and in metabolic pathways. Enzymes are globular proteins which are highly specific to a reaction. They have an active site for their substrate, i. e. their molecular structure includes an area of attachment for their particular substrate (Soper, 2003, p.

116). An enzyme can be inhibited when a molecule of structure similar to its substrate fits into the active site. This is called competitive inhibition (Soper, 2003, p. 123). References Soper, R. (Ed. ). (2003). Biological Science, (3rd ed. ). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Winn, W. C, and Koneman, E. W. (2006). Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. Pack, P. E. (2007). CliffsAP Biology (3rd ed. ). New Jersey: Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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