Roles of Tricarboxylic acid cycle
Role in Central metabolic pathway –
- The TCA cycle is the final common metabolic pathway for carbs, fatty acids, and amino acids.
- TCA is more efficient in terms of energy conservation than other metabolic pathways.
- All of these biomolecules are first catabolized by their respective metabolic pathways to produce acetyl-CoA, which then enters the TCA cycle for further aerobic metabolism.
Tricarboxylic acid cycle is an aerobic process
- In the TCA cycle, NAD+ and FAD act as electron acceptors. The electron transport chain, which requires oxygen as the final electron acceptor, regenerates these. As a result, TCA and ETC are both aerobic processes.
Tricarboxylic acid cycle is an amphibolic pathway
- It participates in both catabolism and anabolism.
Anabolic role
- Because it provides precursors for the biosynthesis of other molecules in cells, TCA is an anabolic pathway.
- Precursors for the biosynthesis of various molecules include citrate, -ketoglutarate, succinyl-CoA, and oxaloacetate.
- SuccinylcoA is used in the synthesis of fatty acids and steroids.
- Ketoglutarate is used to make some aminoacids, purine, and pyrimidine.
- Oxaloacetate is used to make glucose, purine, and pyrimidine.
Catabolic role
- TCA is a catabolic pathway because it completely oxidizes acetyl-CoA into CO2 and H2O while releasing a large amount of energy.
Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle – Overview, Stages, Roles, Significance
Plants respire throughout their lives because the plant cell requires energy to survive; however, plants breathe in a unique way known as cellular respiration. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants generate glucose molecules by capturing and converting sunlight energy. Several live experiments demonstrate plant respiration. All plants respire in order to provide energy to their cells, allowing them to be active or alive.
Plants require oxygen to respire, and the process emits carbon dioxide. However, plants do have stomata (found in leaves) and lenticels (found in stems) that are actively involved in gas exchange. Plants lack specialized structures for gas exchange, in contrast to people and other creatures. Plant leaves, stems, and roots respire at a slower rate than other parts of the plant.