ATP: The Energy Currency of Cells — NEET Biology

Saprophytes like fungi are dependent on dead and decaying matter. What is important to recognise is that ultimately all the food that is respired for life processes comes from photosynthesis. This chapter deals with cellular respiration or the mechanism of breakdown of food materials within the cell to release energy, and the trapping of this energy for synthesis of ATP. Photosynthesis, of course, takes place within the chloroplasts (in the eukaryotes), whereas the breakdown of complex molecules to yield energy takes place in the cytoplasm and in the mitochondria (also only in eukaryotes). The breaking of the C-C bonds of complex compounds through oxidation within the cells, leading to release of considerable amount of energy is called respiration. The compounds that are oxidised during this process are known as respiratory substrates. Usually carbohydrates are oxidised to release energy, but proteins, fats and even organic acids can be used as respiratory substances in some plants, under certain conditions. During oxidation within a cell, all the energy contained in respiratory substrates is not released free into the cell, or in a single step. It is released in a series of slow step-wise reactions controlled by enzymes, and it is trapped as chemical energy in the form of ATP. Hence, it is important to understand that the energy released by oxidation in respiration is not (or rather cannot be) used directly but is used to synthesise ATP, which is broken down whenever (and wherever) energy needs to be utilised. Hence, ATP acts as the energy currency of the cell. This energy trapped in ATP is utilised in various energy-requiring processes of the organisms, and the carbon skeleton produced during respiration is used as precursors for biosynthesis of other molecules in the cell.