Week 2 exam 2 Flashcards
What process do microbes use to transfer energy?
Moving electrons from reduced food molecules to diffusible carriers, membrane-bound carriers, and then to O2, metals, or oxidized forms of N and S.
What are the two main metabolic groups in the carbon cycle?
Autotrophs and Heterotrophs.
Define Autotrophs.
Organisms that use CO2 as a carbon source and synthesize organic compounds.
Define Heterotrophs.
Organisms that use reduced, preformed organic compounds as a carbon source.
What are Chemotrophs?
Organisms that obtain energy through oxidation of chemical compounds
What are Phototrophs?
Organisms that obtain energy from light.
What do Lithotrophs use as electron donors?
Inorganic molecules.
What do Organotrophs use as electron donors?
Organic molecules.
What are the nutritional types of organisms in Eukarya?
Photoautotrophs and heterotrophs.
Which organisms are unique to Lithotrophy?
A few Bacteria and Archaea.
What is the primary function of glycolytic pathways?
The primary function of glycolytic pathways is to generate energy in the form of ATP by breaking down glucose molecules, serving as a central metabolic pathway for cells to produce energy even in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic conditions).
What is Aerobic Respiration?
cells convert glucose (sugar) into energy (ATP) in the presence of oxygen, producing carbon dioxide and water as byproducts;
How is ATP generated in Glycolysis?
In aerobic conditions, pyruvate enters the citric acid cycle and undergoes oxidative phosphorylation leading to the net production of 32 ATP molecules. In anaerobic conditions, pyruvate converts to lactate through anaerobic glycolysis. Anaerobic respiration results in the production of 2 ATP molecules.
What is the last reaction of Glycolysis categorized as?
Substrate-Level Phosphorylation.
Where does the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle occur in eukaryotes?
In the mitochondria.
What is the primary outcome of the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle?
Pyruvate is completely oxidized to CO2.
What types of reactions occur in the TCA Cycle?
Redox and decarboxylation reactions forming NADH and CO2.
What is produced alongside NADH in the TCA Cycle?
1 FADH2.
Fill in the blank: The TCA cycle is also known as the _______.
Kreb’s Cycle or Citric Acid Cycle.
Fermentation
Fermentation is a catabolic process that occurs without an electron transport system and uses an organic molecule as the final electron acceptor, meaning it does not rely on a terminal electron acceptor like oxygen; instead, it regenerates NAD+ by converting pyruvate into products like lactate or ethanol, allowing glycolysis to continue in the absence of oxygen.
Name three major fermentations used in the food industry.
Lactic, propionic, and ethanolic fermentations.
What are chemolithotrophs?
Microbes that acquire electrons from the oxidation of inorganic sources such as H2, NO2, or Fe2+
What is an example of an iron-oxidizing bacterium?
Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
What are the two genera involved in nitrification?
Nitrosomonas (converts ammonia to nitrite) and Nitrobacter (converts nitrite to nitrate)
