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A mitochondrion (pl. mitochondria) is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi.Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used throughout the cell as a source of chemical energy. [2]
The reactions involved in respiration are catabolic reactions, which break large molecules into smaller ones, producing large amounts of energy (ATP). Respiration is one of the key ways a cell releases chemical energy to fuel cellular activity. The overall reaction occurs in a series of biochemical steps, some of which are redox reactions.
Bioenergetics is a field in biochemistry and cell biology that concerns energy flow through living systems. [1] This is an active area of biological research that includes the study of the transformation of energy in living organisms and the study of thousands of different cellular processes such as cellular respiration and the many other metabolic and enzymatic processes that lead to ...
Eukaryotic cells contain organelles including mitochondria, which provide energy for cell functions; chloroplasts, which create sugars by photosynthesis, in plants; and ribosomes, which synthesise proteins. Cells were discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665, who named them after their resemblance to cells inhabited by Christian monks in a monastery.
The name organelle comes from the idea that these structures are parts of cells, as organs are to the body, hence organelle, the suffix -elle being a diminutive. Organelles are either separately enclosed within their own lipid bilayers (also called membrane-bounded organelles) or are spatially distinct functional units without a surrounding ...
Mitochondria are regarded as organelles rather than endosymbionts because mitochondria and the host cells share some parts of their genome, undergo division simultaneously, and provide each other with means to produce energy. [40] The endomembrane system and nuclear membrane were hypothesized to have derived from the protomitochondria. [41] [42 ...
These sets of chemical reactions contain both energy producing and utilizing pathways. [ 5 ] : 572 To the right is an illustration of the amphibolic properties of the TCA cycle. The glyoxylate shunt pathway is an alternative to the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle , for it redirects the pathway of TCA to prevent full oxidation of carbon compounds ...
The energy released during this process is used to create a hydrogen ion (or proton) gradient across the inner membrane of the mitochondrion. Finally, the proton gradient is used to produce about 2.5 ATP for every NADH + H + oxidized in a process called oxidative phosphorylation. [45]