The Different Ways in Which Organisms Use Atp

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Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a multifunctional nucleotide used in cells as a coenzyme. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism. It is produced cellular respiration and used by enzymes and structural proteins in many cellular processes, including active transport, respiration, and cell division. One molecule of ATP contains three phosphate groups, and it is produced by ATP synthase from inorganic phosphate and adenosine diphosphate (ADP). ATP is used is many organisms and also in different ways. This essay explores how ATP is used in different ways. ATP is used in photosynthesis and respiration to help activate molecules allowing enzyme catalysed reactions to occur more readily. For example, in chlorophyll-containing photosynthetic organisms, ATP is produced mainly during the light dependent reactions, given that light energy is sufficiently present. When a photon of light hits a chlorophyll molecule, the chlorophyll is excited, and one of its electrons is promoted to a higher energy state. This electron, however, would eventually come back down to its original ‘ground state’, and in doing so, releases a small amount of energy. This energy is used to drive the endothermic reaction which combines ADP (adenosine diphosphate) to an inorganic phosphate group in order to produce a molecule of ATP. However, in virtually all other organisms, ATP is produced by respiration. Respiration could be put simply as the transfer of energy stored in larger organic molecules such as glucose into the ATP form. So why do organisms do this? Surely it’s more efficient to use glucose directly. ATP provides energy in a controlled manner, since each molecule of ATP only carries a small amount of potential energy. When one molecule of ATP is hydrolysed into ADP and the inorganic phosphate, it releases roughly 2% of the energy of a glucose molecule. This is much

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