Microbial Metabolism

Flashcards focused on key vocabulary from the microbial metabolism lecture.

Metabolism

All chemical and physical workings of a cell.

Catabolism

Degradative process that breaks the bonds of larger molecules to form smaller molecules, releasing energy.

Anabolism

Biosynthesis process that forms larger macromolecules from smaller molecules, requiring energy input.

Enzyme

Biological catalysts that increase the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering the energy of activation.

Cofactor

Nonprotein portion of a conjugated enzyme necessary for its activity.

Apoenzyme

The protein portion of a conjugated enzyme.

Competitive inhibition

Substance that resembles the normal substrate competes with the substrate for the active site.

Allosteric inhibition

Regulation of an enzyme where a molecule binds to a regulatory site other than the active site.

Exoenzymes

Enzymes transported extracellularly to break down large food molecules or harmful chemicals.

Endoenzymes

Enzymes retained intracellularly that function there.

ATP

Adenosine triphosphate, the metabolic 'currency' of the cell, consisting of adenine, ribose, and three phosphate groups.

Substrate-level phosphorylation

Direct transfer of a phosphate group from a phosphorylated compound to ADP.

Oxidative phosphorylation

Process of ATP synthesis occurring through redox reactions in the respiratory pathway.

Fermentation

Incomplete oxidation of glucose or other carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen.

Photosynthesis

Process whereby light energy is converted into chemical energy, occurring in two stages: light-dependent and light-independent reactions.

Calvin Cycle

The light-independent reactions in photosynthesis that utilize ATP to fix CO2 into glucose.

Redox reactions

Reactions involving the transfer of electrons between molecules.

Coenzymes

Organic cofactors that serve as temporary carriers for some substrates.

Labile

Chemically unstable enzymes that can be affected by environmental factors.

Denaturation

Process where weak bonds that maintain the shape of the apoenzyme are broken, resulting in a loss of function.

Metabolic pathways

Series of enzymatic reactions that lead to the conversion of substrates into end products.

Cyclic pathways

Metabolic pathways that regenerate the starting material at the end of the cycle.

Amino acids

Building blocks of proteins that can be produced from catabolic pathways.