Similarities Between Cellular Respiration And Photosynthesis

Cellular Respiration is the physiological process of converting molecules into ATP. This process can occur in bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals. It uses Oxygen (02) and Glucose (C6H1206) to transfer and transform electrons. Then it produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and Water (H2O). Thus, it is read as C6H12O6 + 6O2 --> 6H2O + 6CO2 + 32ATP. Respiration is split into three steps Glycolysis, Citric Acid Cycle, and Electron Transfer Chain (ETC).

In photosynthesis, cells take in carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) by absorbing energy from the sun, and then the cells release oxygen (O2) and store glucose (C6H12O6). The formula of photosynthesis is:

The last step of cellular respiration is the Electron transport chain (ETC). The ETC takes place in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Electrons from Hydrogen are carried by NADH and passed down an electron transport chain to result in the production of ATP. Results are the production of ~32 ATPs for every glucose. Oxygen, which is the final electron receptor, finishes the process by creating a water molecule and combining the remaining hydrogen molecules. Oxygen is the final electron receptor. Without it, the process cannot be complete (Cellular Respiration, 2004). The waste products of cellular respiration are CO2 and H2O that are the same incrediants used in photosynthesis. Plants store chemical energy by photosynthese and then harvest this energy via cellular respiration.

When cellular respiration is in process, hydrogen atoms are removed from glucose and transferred to oxygen atoms that form CO2 and H2O. A major process of cellular respiration is Glycolysis, which occurs in the cytoplasm just outside of the mitochondria. Glycolysis is the process by which glucose is broken down into two pyruvate molecules. Energy is used to release glucose, which gains 2 ATP. Oxidation follows which produces NADH. . (Mader, 2009)

The overall goal being completed by cellular respiration is the building and the making of ATP. An important step in the cellular respiration process is known as Oxidation Phosphorylation, which occurs in the Mitochondria, or the power house of the cell. Glucose that is absorbed into the cells is used in this process. The energy from glucose is taken and energized and moved into an electron transport chain to be transported down the chain and release energy. This energy released is then captured and is used to pump what is known as H+ across the membrane of the cell, which powers ATP Synthase, forming ADP into the ATP energy source. Chemiosmosis takes place during Oxidation Phosphorylation, which uses the energy of the hydrogen ions to synthesize ADP into ATP.

Unlike photosynthesis, cellular respiration is an exergonic reaction where energy is released, rather than absorbed. This released energy is called ATP, the energy currency of the cell.

The purpose to cellular respiration and photosynthesis are to provide energy to both animal and plant cells. In photosynthesis, chloroplasts use carbon dioxide and light and produce glucose and oxygen, while in cellular respiration, the animal cell uses glucose and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and energy; which is the opposite of what chloroplasts do. The location of cellular respiration differ, the materials and products of each are opposites of one another, the different phases of that photosynthesis and cellular respiration have, and many other varieties of differences exist between plant and animal cells in cellular respiration and photosynthesis.

The third and final step in cellular respiration is the electron transport chain which takes place in the inner mitochondrion membrane. This process uses the high-energy electrons from the Krebs cycle to convert ADP into ATP. These high-energy electrons are first passed along the electron transport chain. Every time 2 electrons travel down this chain, their energy is used to transport hydrogen ions (H+) across the membrane. These H+ ions escape through channels into an ATP synthase. This causes it to spin, transforming the ADP into ATP. On average, each pair of high-energy electrons that moves down the electron

Transitioning between photosynthesis and respiration: Photosynthesis transforms solar energy to stored chemical energy, and cellular respiration transforms that stored chemical energy to ATP which is an energy molecule that is then used by the cell. Light energy is used for photosynthesis in the chloroplasts ---> organic molecules + 02 ---> used---> Cellular respiration in mitochondria --- > produced ---> CO2 + H2O ---> photosynthesis (cycle starts over again).

Cellular respiration and photosynthesis share many similarities in structural components and processes, such as the fact that both derive energy from electrons as they pass through a chain. With the use of electron transport chains, both processes move hydrogen ions across a membrane to form a chemiosmotic gradient. Both systems use this gradient to move hydrogen ions through the membrane passively and into an ATP synthase molecule, which yields ATP molecules. We see the intermediate molecule G3P in cell respiration and photosynthesis, which goes on to form glucose or other complex compounds. Both systems share unique and similar characteristics that make life possible for both plant and animal cells.

These protons are then grabbed by enzymes, which put them onto NADPs, turning them into NADPHs, and along with the electron from earlier, they make ATPs. The NADPH and ATP are moved to the Calvin cycle.

In cellular respiration, the protons disseminate back into the mitochondrial matrix of stage three. Specifically in the electron transport chain of oxidative phosphorylation (stage three), NADH is broken down into NAD2, H+ (proton), and electrons. These electrons then travel through the chain where they bind with an oxygen molecule at the endpoint. This fusion causes oxygen to be reduced to water, with protons in the form of hydrogen ions. As a result of the proton flow, and usage of the energy of the electrons, oxidative phosphorylation causes ADP to turn into ATP. Similar to cellular respiration, the electrons in photosynthesis also pass through an electron transport chain (absorbed through light energy). These electrons help hydrogen ions diffuse through a membrane in the stroma (chloroplast), then again through the ATP synthase. These reactions along with substrate level phosphorylation (a phosphate group added to ADP) create ATP. Furthermore, this ATP is used to generate glucose from inorganic molecules like water and carbon dioxide.

Cellular respiration is a set of chemical transformations in the cell which convert energy gained from food into ATP and then release waste products. In this process, there are two steps, glycolysis, and the Krebs Cycle. . First, the cells goes through glycolysis. One molecule of glucose is converted into two molecules of pyruvate, four molecules of ATP and two NADH molecules as well as water and heat. Then, the pyruvate is sent to the mitochondria, where it is taken apart to produce an acetyl group which joins the enzyme CoA to form acetyl CoA.

     Photosynthesis has a two-stage performance before plants produce the two products they are known to produce. These stages are Photosystem I and II. Photosystem II is dependant on light reactions for energy which causes the electrons to be react and be transferred to Photosystem II. The electrons are transported through the Photosystem II electron transport system, however some energy is used to drive ATP synthesis. Meanwhile, light is being absorbed by the Photosystem I, which causes the electrons to react. This process sends the electrons to the Photosystem I transport system where some energy is released as electrons travel through the electron transport system and is captured as NADPH. When this process is completed oxygen is released from the plant and glucose has been

In aerobic respiration, glucose is split into two three-carbon molecules known as pyruvates in the first stage called glycolysis as alluded to earlier. Both of these products lose one carbon as carbon dioxide, and “[attaches] to coenzyme A, forming a new molecule called acetyl CoA” (Upadhyaya, 2015). Acetyl CoA is then inserted into what is known as the citric acid cycle. This eight-step cycle features the synthesis, degradation, and regeneration of citrate while releasing carbon dioxide and reducing electron carriers NAD+ and FAD to NADH and FADH2 (Reece, 2013). The reduced (term for a molecule that has gained at least one electron) carriers proceed to the inner membrane of the mitochondria where the electrons are transferred over to the first of four systematic proteins that make up the electron transport chain where oxidative phosphorylation occurs (Reece, 2013). ‘Pulled’ by the electronegative oxygen at the end of the chain, the electrons navigate through the chain, creating an environment that enables protons to travel across the membrane (Reece, 2013). This proton-motive force, or high concentration of hydrogen ions, eventually diffuses back through the membrane through its only route: ATP synthase; it is this protein that generates ATP via phosphorylation (Reece, 2013).