Raise your knowledge of plant biochemistry
You will learn more about biochemistry with a focus on plants in this course. This advanced course will offer you a thorough grasp of how life functions, including how living things receive their energy and nutrients and use them to regenerate and create new living things.
Gycolysis, electron transport, oxidative phosphorylation, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, photosynthesis, nucleotide metabolism, enzymes, hormonal regulation, and other topics are covered in the lessons.
Horticulturists, environmental managers, technicians, agronomists, and anybody else interested in the biochemical processes of plants may benefit greatly from taking this course.
Biochemistry I and II or knowledge of a comparable level is required.
Lesson Structure
There are 11 lessons in this course:
- Introduction
- Introduction to Metabolism
- Energy Transfer within the Cell – sources of energy, components of the cell, catabolic metabolism, anabolic metabolism, energy exchanges, free energy, enthalpy, entropy, energy transfers, ATP, Oxidation, enzyme catalysed reactions, coenzymes, hydrolysis, hydration reaction, phosphorylation.
- Glycolysis
- ATP – ATP Synthase
- Glycolysis – activation, ATP production from Glycolysis, Metabolism of Pyruvate
- Pentose Phosphate Pathway
- Movement Through Membranes
- Lipids and Fats
- Membranes
- Kinetics and Mechanisms of Transport – mediated and non-mediated transport, active transport
- Ionophores
- Aquaporins
- Electron Transport and Oxidative Phosphorylation
- Mitochondria
- Electron Transport
- Oxidative Phosphorylation
- Citric Acid Cycle/Tricarboxylic Cycle
- Controls of ATP Production
- Sugar and Polysaccharide Metabolism
- Monosaccharides, Disaccharides, Oligosaccharides, Polysaccharides, Glycoproteins
- Sucrose
- Starches – Glycogen and Starch
- Starch Biosynthesis – Transitory Starch in Chloroplasts, Sucrose and Starch Regulation
- Carbohydrate Metabolism
- Gluconeogenesis – The Glyoxylate Pathway
- Cell Wall
- Lipid Metabolism
- Lipids
- Fatty Acid Biosynthesis by Plastids – Saturated Fatty Acid Biosynthesis
- Glycerolipid and Phospholipid Formation
- Triacylglycerol (TAG) Formation
- Fatty Acid Oxidation in the Peroxisomes/Glyoxysomes
- Wound Sealing
- Photosynthesis
- Photosynthesis – Chloroplasts, Light Reactions
- Dark Reactions – Carboxylation, Regeneration, the Calvin Cycle
- Photorespiration – C4 Respiration
- CAM
- Nucleotide Metabolism
- Nucleotides
- Nitrogen Fixation
- Assimilation of Ammonia into Amino Acids – Purines, Pyramidines
- Formation of Deoxyribonucleotides
- Nucleotide Degradation
- Enzyme Activity
- Enzymes
- Enzyme Classification
- Enzyme Kinetics
- Enzyme Regulation
- Reproductive Processes in Plants
- Types of Plant Reproduction – Sexual and Asexual Reproduction
- Gene Expression
- What are Genes?
- Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) and Protein Synthesis – Overview, Transcription, Translation
- Eukaryotic DNA Replication – DNA Polymerases, Leading and Lagging Strains, Telomeres and Telomerase
- Other Processes
- Hormones
- Growth Regulators – Auxins, Cytokinins, Gibberellins, Ethylene
- Other Hormones – Antiauxins, Growth Inhibiters, Growth Retardants, Growth Simulators, Defoliants, Unclassified Plant Growth Regulators
- Use of Plant Hormones in Horticulture – Hormone Products
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
- Describe how the various biochemical processes interact with one another inside the plant cell.
- Describe the mechanism of glycolysis.
- Explain the process by which biochemicals are transported through plant membranes.
- Describe the functions of oxidative phosphorylation and electron transport in the regulation of plant energy.
- Describe the composition and physiology of carbohydrates.
- Describe the lipid metabolism.
- Describe how photosynthesis works and how the light and dark reactions of photosynthesis affect plant growth.
- the biological nucleotide metabolism explained
- Describe biochemical catalysis and enzyme processes.
- Describe the metabolic mechanisms that are important for plant reproduction.
- Describe other biochemical procedures, such as hormone-mediated biochemical communication.
Why You Should Know About Plant Metabolism
Chemical reactions that result in certain products are referred to as metabolic processes in plants.
A plant’s metabolism is intricate and involves a wide variety of chemical events, each of which influences the others. Although living things have complicated metabolic processes, they remain relatively stable.
In metabolism, there are two primary categories of pathways:
- Catabolism Routes that lead to the breakdown of biological components.
- Anabolism Routes that enable the formation of more complex molecules from less complicated biological constituents.
There are four essential traits that metabolic pathways share:
- The metabolic processes cannot be reversed.
- Every metabolic route has an initial step that is committed.
- Every metabolic pathway is controlled.
- In eukaryotic cells, particular cellular sites house metabolic pathways.
TRANSFER OF ENERGY WITHIN THE CELL
Energy sources
The sun’s energy is absorbed by plants. A few plants can also obtain energy by parasitizing other plants or by trapping insects. Chloroplasts are able to absorb energy. The light and dark photosynthetic processes use this energy to create carbohydrates (sugars).
Cellular components
Eukaryotic plant cells have a cell wall, cytoplasm, nucleus, one or more mitochondria, and several additional organelles depending on how they are used.
DNA serves as the blueprint for internal biological activities, including the creation of proteins, within the cell nucleus. As a “negative,” the RNA found inside the nucleus prevents the DNA information from being copied and transferred.
Carbohydrates are linked by the DNA blueprint to create amino acids, which are subsequently linked to create peptide chains. In turn, proteins and enzymes are created from these peptide chains.
Several elements of the cell are constructed from proteins. Enzymes are essential for metabolism because they catalyse a variety of biological reactions, enabling them to take place at lower temperatures.
Most of the energy required by creatures, especially mammals, is produced by mitochondria. Moreover, they have some of their own DNA for the production of proteins. Plastids, of which chloroplasts are the most well-known type, are another organelle that produces energy. By means of these chloroplasts, photosynthesis converts light energy into chemical energy.
Lipids are the building blocks of the cell wall and the membranes that enclose the different organelles within the cell; they may also contain proteins and carbohydrates. The majority of the structural strength in plants is derived from the cell walls, which are located outside of the plasma membrane.
Both plant and animal cells have vacuoles, but plants tend to have more of them. These are fluid-filled areas that are surrounded by membranes. They primarily act as repositories for nutrients, specialty chemicals, and garbage. In vacuoles, there is a large concentration of solutes, which raises internal pressure and makes non-woody plants more stiff.
Moreover, the cell contains the molecules ATP and NADP, which serve as carriers for the transmission of energy both inside and outside the cell. These chemicals are synthesised through some metabolic processes.
Internal cellular metabolism
A cell’s internal metabolic functions are interconnected. The waste product of one metabolic activity is often sent to another process where it might be employed again in biochemical activities. Similar to this, energy that has been transformed from one process is moved to another process within the cell for usage. These processes are often governed by hormones.
This energy must cross membranes in order to be transported inside the cell. This occurrence is referred to as electron transfer.
The catabolic process
Sugars, amino acids, and lipids are broken down (degraded) during catabolic processes in order to create simpler chemicals and release energy. For instance, the breakdown of glucose into two molecules of pyruvate (or pyruvic acid) during glycolysis results in a net gain of energy in the form of ATP and NADH. The citric acid cycle, which takes place in the mitochondria, further breaks down pyruvate. Pentose phosphate is another route that leads to similar outcomes.
Metabolism anabolic
In contrast to catabolic metabolic (biosynthesis) processes, anabolic metabolic (biosynthesis) processes often include the addition of a different enzyme or electron transport mechanism. Photosynthesis and gluconeogenesis are examples of anabolic processes.
In coming classes, each of these metabolic processes will be explored, so don’t worry if you don’t currently comprehend them.
Energy transfers
Only when the reactants exchange energy do any metabolic activities in living things take place. When larger molecules break down through catabolic processes, the energy stored in those molecules in the form of chemical bonds is released. Then, this energy is transmitted to intermediary molecules that carry it to more metabolic activities, which are often processes that build up (anabolism).
As a result, energy is just moved rather than being generated or destroyed. Then, energy is exchanged between endergonic activities, which absorb the energy while new chemical bonds are formed, and exergonic processes, which release energy when chemical bonds break down.
Biochemistry for plants: Uses
- By employing hormones and other chemicals to, for example, encourage the formation of roots from a cutting, nurserymen with an understanding of biochemistry are able to better propagate plants.
- The type and rate of crop growth can be controlled, as well as the way crops are harvested and treated after harvest, all of which can improve plant production on any type of farm.
- Without the use of biochemistry, weedicides could not be produced anywhere near as effectively.
- Plants can be modified using biotechnology to make them more useful in a variety of contexts, including forestry, agriculture, agricultural production, landscaping, and environmental management.