Define Metabolism and it's types.
Answers
Answer:
Metabolism is a term that is used to describe all chemical reactions involved in maintaining the living state of the cells and the organism. Metabolism can be conveniently divided into two categories:
Catabolism - the breakdown of molecules to obtain energy
Anabolism - the synthesis of all compounds needed by the cells
Metabolism is closely linked to nutrition and the availability of nutrients. Bioenergetics is a term that describes the biochemical or metabolic pathways by which the cell ultimately obtains energy. Energy formation is one of the vital components of metabolism.
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Metabolism :
Within cells, an increase in the number and diversity of molecules provides a greater opportunity for a vast array of biochemical reactions. It is estimated that the cells of living organisms possess about 5000 different types of chemicals which take part in many times more kinds of chemical reactions. All these chemical reactions going on in living cells are collectively termed as metabolism.
Metabolism may be defined as the exchange of materials and energy within an organism or between an organism and its environment. The metabolism is further divided broadly into two categories :
- Anabolism
- Catabolism
1. Anabolism : These are the biochemical reactions concerned with the building up' or 'synthesis of complex substances from simple ones. During this process, the free energy is stored in the form of potential energy, e.g., synthesis of carbohydrates from CO₂ and H₂O in presence of light and chlorophyll during photosynthesis :-
6 CO₂ + 12 H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ + 6H₂O
Other examples of anabolism are - synthesis of starch from glucose, synthesis of lipids from fatty
acids and alcohols, synthesis of proteins from amino acids, etc.
2. Catabolism : These are the biochemical reactions concerned mainly with the break down of organic nutrient molecules into simple substances. During this break down the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. The energy released during the process is usedup in various activities of the organism, e.g., Oxidative break down of glucose (or other respiratory substrates) to release energy (i.e., respiration)
C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ → 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + Energy
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Both anabolic and catabolic reactions occur simultaneously inside the living cells with different organelles organized into metabolic pathways. eg., metabolic pathway of photosynthesis in chloroplasts, respiration in mitochondria, synthesis of lipids in smooth endoplasmic reticulum, etc. It is possible only
because of compartmentalization of protoplasm by different cell organelles.
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