Chapter 9 and 10 Review Questions Reece Carpenter

October 1, 2010
Period 0
Biology HL
1. Outline what is achieved by the process of glycolysis including phosphorylation oxidation and
the ATP formation:
The process of glycolysis achieves the splitting of glucose into pyruvate, serving as the
starting point for fermentation or cellular respiration. In the end, all the carbon originally present
in glucose is accounted for in the two molecules of pyruvate; no CO2 is released during
glycolysis. The net energy yield from glycolysis, per glucose molecule, is 2 ATP plus 2 NADH.
This mode of ATP synthesis is called oxidatice phosphorylation because it is powered by the
redox reactions of the electron transport chain.

2. Outline aerobic respiration including oxidative decarboxylation of 2-oxoproanoate (pyruvate),

Krebs cycle, NADH + H+ and electron transport chain:
Aerobic respiration is the most prevalent and efficient catabolic pathway, in which
oxygen is consumed as a reactant along with organic fuel. Pyruvate decarboxylation is the far
from equilibrium biochemical reaction that uses pyruvate to form acetyl-CoA, releasing NADH,
a reducing equivalent, and carbon dioxide via decarboxylation.
The Krebs cycle, also known as the citric acid cycle that is a series of enzyme-catalysed
chemical reactions, which is of central importance in all living cells that use oxygen as part of
cellular respiration. The NADH generated in the Citric Acid cycle may later donate its electrons
in oxidative phosphorylation to drive ATP synthesis.
An electron transport chain consists of a number of molecules, mostly proteins, built into
the inner membrane of the mitochondria of cells. Electrons removed from the glucose are
shuttled by NADH to the higher energy end of the chain while at the lower energy end, Oxygen
captures these electrons along with hydrogen nuclei (H+), forming water.

3. Define oxidation and reduction using respiration and photosynthesis as examples:

Oxidation is the loss of electrons from a substance involved in a redox reaction, such as
respiration. In such a reaction, organic compounds are combined with Oxygen to create Carbon
dioxide, water and energy in the form of ATP. Similarly, cellular respiration uses glucose and
ocygen to create the very same exhaust products.
Reducion is the addition of electrons to a substance involved in a redox reaction, such as
photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, the opposite reaction of respiration occurs. Photosynthesis
converts light energy and Carbon dioxide to the chemical energy of food (glucose), oxygen and
water.

4. Explain the relationship between the action spectrum and the absorption spectra of
photosynthetic pigments:
Photosynthetic pigments are substances that absorb visible light at different wavelengths.
The ability of a pigment to absorb various wavelengths of light can be measured with an
instrument called a spectrometer. A graph plotting a pigment’s light absorption versus
wavelength is called an absorption spectrum while a graph plotting photosynthesis versus
wavelength is called an action spectrum. The first spectrum demonstrates the wavelengths of
light best absorbed by chloroplast pigments, while the second demonstrates the rate of
photosynthesis in each pigment.

5. Trace the electron flow through photosystems II and I:

A photosystem is composed of a protein complex called a reaction-center complex
surrounded by several light-harvesting complexes. The thykaloid membrane is populated by two
types of photosystems that cooperate in the light reactions of photosynthesis. PS II and PS I,
were discovered in numerical order but work in sequential order (PS II and PS I). The linear
electron flow through the photo systems is as follows: (1) Photons of light strikes pigment,
boosting electron to higher energy level, exciting another and another until it reaches the P680
pair. (2) the P680 pair transfers the energy to the primary acceptor, resulting in P680+. (3) the
photoexcited electron passes to the primary acceptor of PS I via the electron transport chain. (4)
the subsequent fall through the cytochrome complex creates ATP. (5) similar to step 1, another
photon hits the PS I and the electron is met by the enzyme NADP+ reductase catalyzes the
transfer of electrons and creates NADPH.

6. Describe the important differences in chemiosmosis between oxidative phosphorylation in

mitochondria and photophosphorylation in chloroplasts. How is substrate level phosphorylation
different?
ATP synthase uses the energy of an existing ion gradient to power ATP sythesis. This
process, in which energy is stored in the form of a hydrogen ion gradient across a membrane is
used to drive cellular work such as the synthesis of ATP, is called chemiosmosis. Different forms
of chemiosmosis are used in plants cells (chloroplasts) and animal cells (mitochondria).
Chloroplasts use chemiosmosis to generate ATP during photosynthesis; in these organelles, light
drives both electron flow down an electron transport chain and the resulting H+ gradient
information. Mitochondria generate H+ gradients across their plasma membranes. They then tap
the proton-motive force not only to make ATP inside the cell but also rotate their flagella and to
pump nutrients and waste products across the membrane.
Substrate level phosphorylation is different because only a fraction of the ATP produced
in oxidative phosphorlyation and chemiosmosis is produced. Consequently, 2 ATP in Glycolysis
and 2 ATP in the Citric Acid Cycle are created while about 32 to 34 ATP are created in the final
stage of cellular respiration.

7. Summarize the carbon-fixing reactions of the Calvin cycle in C3, C4, and CAM plants and their
adaptive significance:
The carbon-fixing reactions occur in the initial stages of the Calvin Cycle. Basically, CO2
is incorporated from the air into organic molecules already present in the chloroplast. The
incorporation is made possible by attaching a five-carbon sugar named ribulose biphosphate. The
enzyme that catalyzes this first step is RuBP carboxylase. This is the case with all C3 plants
because the first organic product of carbon fixation is a three-carbon compound, 3-
phosphaglycerate (process is called photorespiration). In C4 plants, the carbon fixation forms a
four-carbon compound as its first product. In these plants, there are two distinct types of
photosynthetic cells: bundle-sheath cells and mesophyll cells. In CAM plants, stomata are open
during the night and closed during the day to conserve water. This process is called crassulacean
acid metabolism because a variety of organic acids are incorporated.

8. Explain the concept of limiting factors with reference to light intensity, temperature, and
concentration of carbon dioxide:
The limiting factors with reference to light intensity, temperature and concentration of
carbon dioxide coincide with the concentration of oxygen near the stomata. C4 plants have
developed two types of photosynthetic cells that maintains the CO2 concentration in the bundle
sheath that favors photosynthesis over photorespiration (Bundle-sheath cells and mesophyll
cells). Also, hot climates are particularly limiting to the processes of photosynthesis because the
CO2 required for photosynthesis enters a leaf via stomata, the pores through the leaf surface.
However, stomata are also the main avenues of transpiration, the evaporative loss of water from
leaves. On a hot, dry day, CAM plants close their stomata, a response that conserves water.

9. Describe what happens to water when it is split in photosynthesis:

Water appears on both sides of the photosunthetic equation because 12 molecules are
consumed and 6 molecules are newly formed during photosynthesis. The chloroplast splits water
into hydrogen and oxygen. Van Neil of Standford confirmed that plants split H2O as a source of
electrons from hydrogen atoms, releasing O2 as a by-product.

10. Describe Lactic acid fermentation and how it is different than alcohol fermentation:
In Alcohol fermentation, pyruvate is converted to ethanol in two steps. (1) release of
carbon dioxide from the pyruvate, converted to the two-carbon compound acetaldehyde. (2)
Acetaldehyde is reduced by NADH to ethanol, generating a supply of NAD+ (for continuation).
During lactic acid fermentation, pyruvate is reduced directly by NADH to form lactate as an end
product, with not release of CO2.

11. Compare and contrast the Krebs and Calvin cycles:

The Krebs Cycle, also known as the citric acid cycle completes the energy yielding
oxidation of organic molecules. The import of pyruvate into the mitochondrion and its
conversion to acetyl CoA links glycolysis to the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle). The inputs for
the cycle are 2 Acetyl CoA and 2 Oxaloacetate, producing 2 ATP, 6 NADH, 4 CO2, and 2
FADH2. The Calvin cycle, on the other hand, uses ATP and NADPH to convert CO2 to sugar.
This cyclical process occurs in the stroma, using electrons form the NADPH and energy from the
ATP. One molecule of G3P exits the cycle per three CO2 molecules fixed and is converted to
glucose and other organic molecules.

12. Compare and contrast the electron transport chains in the mitochondria and the chloroplasts:
There are noteworthy differences between the oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria
and chloroplasts. In mitochondria, the high energy elections dropped down the transport chain
are extracted from organic molecules, which are thus oxidized. Chloroplasts, however, do not
need molecules from food to make ATP; their photosystems capture light energy and use it to
drive the electrons from water to the top of the transport chain. Mitochondria use chemiosmosis
to transfer chemical energy from food molecules to ATP, whereas chloroplasts transform light
energy into chemical energy in ATP.

13. What is the function of oxygen in cell respiration?

The two atoms of the oxygen molecule share their electrons equally. But when oxygen
reacts with the hydrogen from methane, forming water, the electrons of the covalent bonds spend
more time near the oxygen. In effect, each oxygen atom has partially “gained” electrons, so the
oxygen molecule has been reduced. Because oxygen is so electronegative, it is one of the most
potent of all oxidizing agents.

14. What are the energy molecules that transfer energy from the Krebs cycle to the Electron
transport chain?
The reduced coenzymes, NADH and FADH2, shuttle their cargo of high-energy electrons
to the electron transport chain.

15. What is the role of acetyl CoA?

The compound acetyl CoA has high potential energy (due to chemical nature) and
consequently, the reaction of acetyl CoA to yield lower-energy products is highly exergonic.
Thus, the critical junction between glycolysis and the citric acid cycle is made possible by acetyl
CoA.