Bioenergetics

• Bioenergetics - study of energy in living systems and the organisms that utilize them
• Catabolic reactions - involve the breakdown of chemical compounds
• Anabolic reactions - involve the synthesis of compounds
• Adenosine Triphosphate - the main "energy currency" for organisms
• Energy charge - the ratio of ATP and ADP concentrations
• Free energy - the energy actually available to do work
• 1st Law of Thermodynamics - principle of conservation of energy
• 1st Law of Thermodynamics - stated that energy may change form or it may be transported from one region to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed
• 2nd Law of Thermodynamics - universe tends toward increasing disorder
• 2nd Law of Thermodynamics - in all natural processes, the entropy of the universe increases
• Entropy - tendency towards disorder
• Enthalpy - the total heat content of a system under constant pressure
• Glycolysis - the process in which one molecule of glucose is broken in half, producing two molecules of pyruvic acid
• Krebs Cycle - process where pyruvic acid is broken down into carbon dioxide in a series of energy-extracting reactions
• Electron Transport Chain - process that uses the high-energy electrons from the Krebs cycle to convert ADP into ATP
• Complex I - transfers electrons from NADH to ubiquinone (Q), pumps protons
• Complex II - transfers electrons from FADH₂ to ubiquinone, no proton pumping
• Complex III - transfers electrons from ubiquinol (QH₂) to cytochrome c, pumps protons
• Complex IV - transfers electrons from cytochrome c to oxygen, forming water, pumps protons
• Complex V - uses the proton gradient to produce ATP
• Complex V - also called ATP synthase