Enzymes, Energetics, and Introduction to Metabolism Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering enzyme structure and regulation, metabolic energy carriers, fermentation pathways, and introductory concepts of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

Reactant

The starting substance or reaction material at the beginning of a metabolic pathway.

End Product

The final compound or output resulting from a series of steps in a metabolic pathway.

Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP)

An energy carrier molecule containing two phosphate groups, where 'D' stands for di.

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

The universal currency of life, composed of adenine, a ribose sugar, and three phosphate groups containing high-energy bonds.

Enzyme

A protein or biological molecule that acts as a catalyst to lower activation energy and accelerate metabolic reactions.

Activation Energy

The amount of energy needed to start a chemical reaction and turn reactants into products.

Active Site

The specific crevice, nook, or spot on an enzyme where a substrate binds and the reaction is catalyzed.

Allosteric Site

A regulatory site on an enzyme separate from the active site where promoters or inhibitors can bind to alter enzyme activity.

Feedback Inhibition

A regulatory process where an end product (such as ATP) loops back to an earlier committed step in a pathway to stop its own overproduction.

Optimal Human Body Temperature

The ideal operating temperature for human enzymes, which is approximately $98.6^\text{o}\text{F}$.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH)

An enzyme found in yeast that catalyzes the conversion of acetaldehyde into ethanol.

Acetaldehyde

An intermediate molecule in alcohol fermentation that is converted into ethanol by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase.

Ethanol

The alcohol product ($\text{CH}_3\text{CH}_2\text{OH}$) produced when yeast ferment sugars via acetaldehyde.

Photosynthesis

The metabolic process in plants and algae that utilizes light energy from the sun to synthesize sugars.

Cellular Respiration

The metabolic pathway that breaks down sugar into pyruvate and processes it in the mitochondria to produce $\text{CO}_2$ and ATP.

Chloroplast

The organelle in photosynthetic plant cells containing thylakoid membrane systems where photosynthesis takes place.