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Chapter 5: Making a Cell

Introduction

1. Microbes define the extent of the biosphere, where there is life, there are microbes; where there are no

microbes, there is no life.

2. Autocatalysis is the ability to self replicate.

Growth Metabolism: Making Life from Nonlife

1. Non-living things may be chemically active on a small scale or geologically active in a grand scale, but have

no role In organized events and appear inert, where as living things are result of high organized chemicalreaction called metabolism, which leads to all characteristics of living things.

2. Cells utilize information embedded in their existing structures to guide reactions of synthesis and assembly

that results in the production of new cells, which is made possible by four overarching principals of specificcatalysts (enzymes), reaction coupling, harvesting energy and biological membranes transducer energy.

3. Reaction coupling makes individual chemical process that that necessary for life by coupling the with other

favorable reactions like hydrolysis of ATP>ADP.4. Metabolism is the sum of chemical processes in a living system, where growth metabolism is the chemical

reactions necessary needed for a cell to divide and nongrowth reaction are those responsible for vital cellular

activities.

Framework of Growth Metabolism1. Many bacteria are capable of rapid growth and reproduction, which is due to the structural design of

prokaryotic cells where the reproduction involves a very large number of chemical reactions.2. In E. coli nearly half of the 4200 genes encode enzymes with known functions, where many are involved in

making protoplasm from glucose and inorganic salts.

3. In flowcharts here, one can change the staring material and still end up with essentially the same products,where in the case of heterotroph, it does not matter what the organic nutrient is, the end products is always a cell

that heterotroph.

4. Successful production of a living cell depends not only on the chemistry of the metabolic reactions but alsoon the cooperative interplay of those reaction, where there are feedback loops the other controls devices that

result in the production of a living cell.

I. Making Two from One1. Once a cell had successfully doubled in mass and size, having made every cellular compound and structure,

the now-enlarged cell must divide into two living units through a process of binary fission.

II. Assembling Cell Structure

1. Each cell must have a complex envelope and for some appendages, a nucleoid, a cytoplasm rich in

polyribosomes and enzymatic machinery.2. Assembly reaction form each of the cells structures out of macromolecules, where some assemble depends

on enzymes, where other self assemble by condensation.

3. Assembling also involves translocating/moving molecules from their point of manufacture to their ultimate

location.

III. Making Macromolecules

1. Chemical composition of the major cellular structures are proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids,plus hybrids of these are lipoproteins, lipopolysaccharides, and murein, all of which are made in the cell and not

acquired from the environment.

2. Macromolecules are formed by the polymerization of their building blocks: amino acids, nucleotides, fattyacids, sugars, and a score of related compounds, which requires a large amount of energy in the form of ATP.

[amino acid addition to polypeptide requires 4 high energy-phosphate bond, nucleotide require 2, and others]

IV. Synthesizing Building Blocks

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Schaechter, M., Ingtaham, J., & Neidhardt, F. C. (2006). Microbe. Washington, D.C.: ASM Press.