Microbial Metabolism:

The Chemical Crossroads

of Life

Topic 6- Ch 8
 OUTLINE OF TOPIC 7

1 The Metabolism of Microbes

2 The Pursuit and Utilization of Energy

3 The Pathways

4 Biosynthesis and the Crossing Pathways of Metabolism

5 It All Starts with Light

 8.1 The Metabolism of Microbes

• Metabolism: All chemical reactions and physical

workings of the cell

• Functions of metabolism
• Assembles smaller molecules into larger
macromolecules needed for the cell
• Degrades macromolecules into smaller molecules
and yields energy
• Energy is conserved in the form of ATP or heat
 Metabolism
Nutrients from Pyruvate Amino acids Proteins
outside or from Acetyl CoA Sugars Peptidoglycan
internal pathways Glyceraldehyde-3-P Nucleotides RNA + DNA
Fatty acids Complex lipids
Glycolysis
Krebs cycle
Respiratory chain
Relative complexity of molecules Fermentation

Macromolecules

Building
Glucose blocks

Precursor
molecules
+

ATP

NADH

Yields energy Uses energy Uses energy

 Metabolism
• Anabolism (biosynthesis): • Catabolism: the
any process that results in breakdown of bonds of
synthesis of cell molecules larger molecules into
and structures (usually smaller molecules (often
requires energy input) release energy)
 Enzymes

• Enzymes are
catalysts
• Catalysts - chemicals
that increase the rate
of a chemical reaction
without becoming part
of the products or
being consumed in
the reaction
 How do Enzymes Work?
• Energy of activation:
the amount of energy
which must be
overcome for a reaction
to proceed.
• An enzyme promotes a
reaction by serving as a
physical site upon
which the reactant
molecules (substrates)
can be positioned for
various interactions.
 Enzyme Structure
• Most are protein
• Can be classified as simple or conjugated
• Simple enzymes- consist of protein alone
• Conjugated enzymes- contain protein and
nonprotein molecules
• A conjugated enzyme (haloenzyme) is a
combination of a protein (now called the
apoenzyme) and one or more cofactors
• Cofactors are either organic molecules
(coenzymes) or inorganic elements (metal ions)
Conjugated Enzyme Structure

Haloenzyme= apoenzyme + cofactor (metallic or organic)

 Apoenzymes: Specificity and the Active
Site
• Exhibits levels of molecular complexity called the primary,
secondary, tertiary, and quaternary organization
• The actual site where the substrate binds is a crevice or
groove called the active site or catalytic site

Denaturation: the weak bonds

that maintain the native shape of
the apoenzyme are broken
Synthesis and Hydrolysis Reactions
How NAD+ Works

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 8.2 The Pursuit and Utilization of
Energy
• Energy in Cells
• Exergonic reaction: a reaction that releases
energy as it goes forward
• Endergonic reaction: a reaction that is driven
forward with the addition of energy
Cell Energy Production
Adenosine Triphosphate
 8.3 The Pathways

• Metabolism uses enzymes to catalyze reactions that

break down (catabolize) organic molecules to
materials that cells can then use to build (anabolize)
larger, more complex molecules.
• Reducing power and energy are needed in large
quantities for the anabolic parts of metabolism; they
are produced during the catabolic part of
metabolism.
• Pathway- a series of biochemical reactions
A Biochemical Pathway

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 Catabolism: Getting Materials and
Energy

• Glucose is often the nutrient catabolized

• Three major pathways
• Aerobic respiration: series of reactions that
convert glucose to CO2 and allows the cell to
recover significant amounts of energy; requires
oxygen
• Fermentation: Use only glycolysis to incompletely
oxidize glucose
• Anaerobic respiration: Does not use molecular
oxygen as the final electron acceptor
Glucose Metabolism
How Glycolysis Works

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 Pyruvic Acid- A Central Metabolite
• Pyruvic acid from glycolysis serves an important position in
several pathways
• Different organisms handle it in different ways
• In strictly aerobic organisms and some anaerobes, pyruvic
acid enters the Krebs cycle
 The Krebs Cycle: A Carbon and Energy
Wheel
• Pyruvic acid is energy-rich, but its hydrogens
need to be transferred to oxygen
• Takes place in the cytoplasm of bacteria and
in the mitochondrial matrix in eukaryotes
• Produces reduced coenzymes NADH and
FADH2, 2 ATPs for each glucose molecule
Electron Transport System and ATP
Synthesis

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 Electron Transport System
• NADH oxidized
• Electrons pass through
membrane carriers
• Carriers are called
“cytochromes”
Cell wall

H H
H H
H H H

• Protons pumped out

H H
H H
Cytochromes H
H

H
H

• Protons pass through ATP

H
Cytoplasm
ATP synthase
Cell membrane
synthase to form ATP ADP
with ETS

H
H ATP
H

• Oxygen accepts the electrons H

2 H+ + 2 e- + 1/2O2  H2O
 8.4 Biosynthesis and the Crossing
Pathways of Metabolism

• Most catabolic pathways contain strategic molecular

intermediates (metabolites) that can be diverted into
anabolic pathways
• Amphibolism: the property of a system to integrate
catabolic and anabolic pathways to improve cell efficiency
• Principal sites of amphibolic interaction occur during
glycolysis and the Krebs cycle
Amphibolic Metabolism
 8.5 It All Starts with Light
• Photosynthesis Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

• Proceeds in two
phases
• Light-dependent
reactions
• Light- H2O
Glucose

independent ATP
reactions 2H + e–
NADPH

O2
CO2
Chloroplast
 Light-Dependent Reactions
• Solar energy delivered in discrete energy packets called
photons
• Light strikes photosynthetic pigments
• Some wavelengths are absorbed
• Some pass through
• Some are reflected
• Light is absorbed through photosynthetic pigments
• Chlorophylls (green)
• Carotenoids (yellow, orange, or red)
• Phycobilins (red or blue-green)
 Light-Dependent Reactions
• Bacterial chlorophylls
• Contain a photocenter- a magnesium atom held in the
center of a complex ringed molecule
• Harvest the energy of photons and converts it to
electron energy
• Accessory photosynthetic pigments trap light energy and
shuttle it to chlorophyll

Light-Independent Reactions
• Occur in the chloroplast stroma or the cytoplasm
of cyanobacteria
• Use energy produced by the light phase to
synthesize glucose by means of the Calvin cycle
 Other Mechanisms of
Photosynthesis
• Oxygenic (oxygen-releasing) photosynthesis that occurs in
plants, algae, and cyanobacteria- dominant type on earth
• Other photosynthesizers such as green and purple bacteria
• Possess bacteriochlorophyll
• More versatile in capturing light
• Only have a cyclic photosystem I
• These bacteria use H2, H2S, or elemental sulfur rather than
H2O as a source of electrons and reducing power
• They are anoxygenic (non-oxygen-producing); many are
strict anaerobes
 Concept Check

Which of these is the best electron acceptor?

A. Oxygen
B. Nitrate
C. Pyruvate
D. NAD