![](/olcweb/styles/shared/spacer.gif) | ![](/sites/dl/free/0072320427/title/cover_image.JPG) Foundations in Microbiology, 4/e Kathleen Park Talaro,
Pasadena City College Arthur Talaro
Microbial Metabolism
Chapter Overview- Cells are constantly involved in an orderly activity called metabolism that encompasses all of their chemical and energy transactions.
- Enzymes are essential metabolic participants that drive cell reactions.
- Enzymes are protein catalysts that speed up chemical processes by lowering the required energy.
- Enzymes have a specific shape tailored to perform their actions on a single type of molecule called a substrate.
- Enzymes derive some of their special characteristics from cofactors such as vitamins, and they show sensitivity to environmental factors.
- Enzymes are involved in activities that synthesize, digest, oxidize, and reduce compounds, and convert one substance to another.
- Enzymes are regulated by several mechanisms that alter the structure or synthesis of the enzyme.
- The energy of living systems resides in the atomic structure of chemicals that can be acted upon and changed.
- Cell energetics involves the release of energy that powers the formation of bonds.
- The energy of electrons is transferred from one molecule to another in coupled redox reactions.
- Electrons are transferred from substrates such as glucose to coenzyme carriers and ultimately captured in high-energy adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
- Cell pathways involved in extracting energy from fuels are glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and electron transport.
- The molecules used in aerobic respiration are glucose and oxygen, and the products are CO2, H2O, and ATP.
- Microbes participate in alternate pathways such as fermentation and anaerobic respiration.
- Cells manage their metabolites through linked pathways that have numerous functions and can proceed in more than one direction.
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