fill in the blanks (1) a chain of reactions or string inside an organism to proceed a compound is called a____
Answers
Answer:
cell can be thought of as a small, bustling town. Carrier proteins move substances into and out of the cell, motor proteins carry cargoes along microtubule tracks, and metabolic enzymes busily break down and build up macromolecules.
Even if they would not be energetically favorable (energy-releasing, or exergonic) in isolation, these processes will continue merrily along if there is energy available to power them (much as business will continue to be done in a town as long as there is money flowing in). However, if the energy runs out, the reactions will grind to a halt, and the cell will begin to die.
Energetically unfavorable reactions are “paid for” by linked, energetically favorable reactions that release energy. Often, the "payment" reaction involves one particular small molecule: adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.
ATP structure and hydrolysis
Adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, is a small, relatively simple molecule. It can be thought of as the main energy currency of cells, much as money is the main economic currency of human societies. The energy released by hydrolysis (breakdown) of ATP is used to power many energy-requiring cellular reactions.
Explanation:
reactions.
Structure of ATP. At the center of the molecule lies a sugar (ribose), with the base adenine attached to one side and a string of three phosphates attached to the other. The phosphate group closest to the ribose sugar is called the alpha phosphate group; the one in the middle of the chain is the beta phosphate group; and the one at the end is the gamma phosphate group.
Structure of ATP. At the center of the molecule lies a sugar (ribose), with the base adenine attached to one side and a string of three phosphates attached to the other. The phosphate group closest to the ribose sugar is called the alpha phosphate group; the one in the middle of the chain is the beta phosphate group; and the one at the end is the gamma phosphate group.
Image credit: OpenStax Biology.
Structurally, ATP is an RNA nucleotide that bears a chain of three phosphates. At the center of the molecule lies a five-carbon sugar, ribose, which is attached to the nitrogenous base adenine and to the chain of three phosphates.
The three phosphate groups, in order of closest to furthest from the ribose sugar, are labeled alpha, beta, and gamma. ATP is made unstable by the three adjacent negative charges in its phosphate tail, which "want" very badly to get further away from each other. The bonds between the phosphate groups are called phosphoanhydride bonds, and you may hear them referred to as “high-energy” bonds.