Essay on BIOCHEMISTRY OF CENTRAL CARBON Metabolism

Central carbon metabolism employs collection of intricate enzymatic methods to create metabolic precursors. These precursors are then employed as raw elements for mobile biomass output. The central carbon metabolic pathways contain the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas (EMP) pathway of glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway as well as the citric acid cycle. These pathways present variants from organism to organism, dependent around the ecological market the organism occupies. For illustration, Pseudomonas bacterium has a further central pathway, the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway, which replaces the EMP pathway. In some species of microbes for example saccharolytic Archaea, carbs are assimilated via modified non-phosphorylated ED pathways simply because they would not have the traditional EMP pathway (Elad, Eran, & Uri, 2010). Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway (EMP) is the most common pathway among many organisms for the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate into pyruvate (Elad et al., 2010). It allows metabolic use of glucose to ATP, NADH ?and pyruvate. The EMP pathway can occur both anaerobically and aerobically via the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl CoA (Kellen & Manuel, 2011). Organisms which use carbs other than hexoses as carbon sources have essential glycolytic intermediates synthesized by glyconeogenesis. Organisms such as Archaea have unique pathway that is modified from the conservative glyconeogenesis found in germs. This unique pathway is presented in a separate subsystem in which out of ten enzymatic measures constituting the classical EMP, seven are reversible and work in glyconeogenesis (Elad et al., 2010). The pentose phosphate pathway is the second type of pathway. The pentose phosphate pathway is the major source for the NADPH required for anabolic processes. It consists of three major phases each characterised by a unique metabolic product. These products can be utilized as precursor products for other pathways dependent over the needs of the organism (Elad et al., 2010). Gluconeogenesis is directly linked to the pentose phosphate pathway. Gluconeogenesis oxidizes glucose to deliver NADPH and other carbohydrate raw resources applied in mobile biosynthesis. The need for glucose-6-phosphate in the mobile increases the activity of gluconeogenesis. During the reduction of NADP to NADPH, glucose?6?phosphate is oxidized by means of two successive reactions. In the first reaction, the first carbon of glucose is converted from an aldol to an ester by glucose?6?phosphate dehydrogenase. In the second reaction, catalyzed by 6?phosphogluconolactone ? dehydrogenase, the same carbon is further oxidized to CO 2 and released. This leaves behind a 5?carbon sugar, ribulose?5?phosphate (Elad et al. https://bestessaysforsale.net, 2010). Lastly is the Krebs cycle. It is also referred to as the citric acid cycle or the tricarboxylic acid (TCA). This cycle consists of an eight collection reactions that occur in the mitochondrion of the cell. In these reactions, a two carbon molecule (acetate) is completely oxidized to carbon dioxide. Besides breaking glucose, Krebs cycle oxidizes all metabolites including sugars, amino acids and fatty acids. Each of these oxidized has a pathway leading into the Krebs cycle. For example, carbs are broken down into acetyl CoA by glycolysis while fatty acids are also oxidized into acetyl CoA by the beta oxidation pathway. The products of Krebs cycle can be utilized to make molecules like amino acids and fatty acids (Elad et al., 2010). The central carbon metabolic rate consists of enzyme catalyzed reactions that enables organisms to reproduce and maintain their mobile structures. There exist similarities in the basic metabolic pathways and components among organisms. For example, the organic acid intermediates associated with citric acid cycle are present in all known organisms. These similarities not only apply to unicellular organisms including germs but also large multicellular organisms. These striking similarities in metabolic pathways are attributed to their early manifestation in the evolutionary history. Organisms have only been able to modify for efficiency (Kellen & Manuel, 2011).

References Kellen, L. O., & Manuel, L. (2011). Central carbon metabolic rate of plasmodium parasites. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, 175, 95-103. doi:10.1016/j.molbiopara.2010.09.001 Noor, E., Eden, E., Milo, R., & Alon, U. (2010). Central carbon metabolic rate as a minimal biochemical walks between precursors for biomass and energy. Molecular Cell Journal, 39(5), 809-820. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2010.08.031