Drawing showing the TCA (tricarboxylic acid) cycle
Monthly Archives: March 2014
This is a bit……… Puzzling
Try out these puzzles, if you wanna.. We don’t care, we’re driving Cadillacs in our dreams….. -Lorde
Lipids FUN FACT
MIND YO BEEZWAX!
Yes guys lipids can be used to make waxes such as the structure of bees’ honeycombs.
Can you make candles out of your ear wax?
No…u can’t but if you pick out some earwax and smell it that’s lipids you’re smelling guys and I’m not too sure why you would want to smell it 
Anyways it protects the insides of your ears.
Plants have wax too?!
Duh! Cutin which is found on the surface of leaves which help protect the plant and prevent evaporation from their leaves.
Oleic acid in insect repellent
Oleic acid is an example of a subgroup of lipids known as fatty acids. The article ‘ Effectiveness of Oleic Acid as a Bug Repellent against the Rice Flour Beetle’ describes an investigation into the function of oleic acid as an insect repellent. This was done by observing the effect of the presence of oleic acid on the behaviour of rice flour beetles with respect to rice flour, a favourite food of theirs.
Oleic acid is a known chemical released in the form of pheromones by certain insects upon death. Insects identify this hormone by its scent, and it signifies death and the possibility of disease to them. Insects avoid the source of this scent and so oleic acid is an effective repellent. Despite the effect it has on insects, it smells no worse than cooking oil to humans, and is also considered nutritious. This and its cost makes oleic acid a possible solution to the threat of insects attacking an infecting grain sources for humans.
In the article by Suman Mulumudi, the described experiment involves samples of either pure rice flour or rice flour mixed with oleic acid separately being made available to a number of rice flour beetles. The described behaviour of the beetles reflected the expectations, as the samples without oleic acid were attacked constantly, while the samples without were attacked occasionally, with the beetles moving away quickly after, expressing their distaste for the additional ingredient, and giving the flour samples a berth.
The article expresses that the experiment successfully illustrated the effectiveness of the oleic acid in repelling the beetles, though an alternative method would need to be found than mixing the oleic acid into the flour that would be later consumed by humans. Means such as a gelatinous cube or packet of oleic acid to saturate the air within flour containers with the scent were suggested as possibilities, and if applied, they may very well greatly affect the success in preserving flour and other grain food sources from these pests.
Article: http://www.sumanpostulations.com/2011/11/effectiveness-of-oleic-acid-as-bug.html
References : http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-oleic-acid.htm
Table showing the enzymes used in the TCA cycle
| Substrates | Product | Enzyme |
| Oxaloacetate + Acetyl CoA + H2O | Citrate | Citrate synthase (irreversible) |
| Citrate | Isocitrate | Aconitase (reversible) |
| Isocitrate | α-ketoglutarate | Isocitrate dehydrogenase (irreversible) |
| α-ketoglutarate | Succinyl CoA | α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (irreversible) |
| Succinyl CoA | Succinate | Succinyl- CoA synthetase |
| Succinate | Fumerate | Succinate dehydrogenase |
| Fumerate | Malate | Fumerase |
| Malate | Oxaloacetate | Malate dehydrogenase (reversible) |
Leonardo DaVinci’s depiction of the Electron Transport Chain
Highered.mcgraw-hill.com. “Animation: Electron Transport System and ATP Synthesis (Quiz 1).” 2014. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072507470/student_view0/chapter25/animation__electron_transport_system_and_atp_synthesis__quiz_1_.html (accessed 24 Mar 2014).
Glycolysis: An Overview video review
This is a concise video giving you a gist of the basics of glycolysis.
It starts off giving their explanation of what glycolysis is. They define it as a series of 10 reactions which break down sugars like glucose into 3C molecules called pyruvate and it also produces ATP and NADH and all of this occurs in the cytosol of the cell. They then take you through the steps of the first phase. They explain that this stage uses energy to get from step 1, which is glucose, to step 5 which is Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.
They then move on to phase 2 saying this phase produces 4 ATP’s 2 in step 7 and 2 in step 10. It also mentions how the steps involved with ATP production and loss are catalysed by a kinase. The video stresses that the product formed in steps 6 through 10 are formed for EACH G3P molecule generated in steps 4 and 5. This gives you an idea of how many of each product is produced seeing as the number is doubled. They finish the video by saying the net amount of product gotten is 2NADH and 2 ATP’s because 2 ATP’s were spent in the first half of the reaction.
Know your Glycolytic enzymes
We all know that in glycolysis there are 10 reactions controlled by 10 enzymes. These are:
Phase 1
- Hexokinase: It catalyses alpha D-Glucose and ATP to Glucose-6-Phosphate (G6P) and ADP by phosphorylation.
- Phosphoglucose isomerase: This catalyses G6P to its isomer Fructose-6-phosphate (F6P). This occurs by changing the carbonyl oxygen from the C1 position on the G6P to the C2 position on F6P
- Phosphofructokinase: Catalyses F6P and ATP to Fructose-1, 6-Bisphosphate (F1, 6PP) and ADP.
- Fructose-Bisphosphate aldolase: Catalyses F1,6PP to split into Dihydroxyacetone Phosphate (DHAP) and Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate (G3P)
- Triosephosphate isomerase: This catalyses DHAP to turn into G3P because only G3P can be used in the reaction.
Phase 2
- Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase: Catalyses G3P, NAD and Pi to 1,3 Bisphosphoglycerate (1,3 BPG), NADH and H+
- Phosphoglycerate kinase: Catalyses 1,3 BPG and ADP to 3-Phosphoglycerate and ATP
- Phosphoglycerate mutase: Catalyses 3PG to 2-Phosphoglycerate (2PG)
- Enolase: Catalyses 2PG to Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and H2O.
- Pyruvate kinase: It catalyses PEP and ADP to Pyruvate and ATP.
Diagram showing Glycolysis
Untitled. 2014. : http://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/potm/2004_2/Page1.htm (accessed 17 Mar 2014).
10 Glycolysis Facts
1. Glycolysis aka the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway (EMP pathway) was discovered by Gustav Embden, Otto Meyerhof and Jakub Karol Parnas.
2. The Glycolysis process is so old that it has probably been around before oxygen made its debut in the atmosphere.
3. Glyco –glucose Lysis- splits. It basically is the conversion of one 6-carbon glucose molecule into two 3-carbon sugars called pyruvate through a series of enzymatic reactions.
4. It involves two phases, the Preparatory phase or the energy investment phase and the energy generation phase or the payoff phase.
5. In the investment phase, initially 2 ATP molecules are invested in glycolysis. The payoff is the generation of 4 ATP molecules so a profit or net gain of 2 ATP molecules is made.
6. Glycolysis involves 10 reactions each being catalyzed by one of ten enzymes, in the following order Hexokinase, Phosphohexose Isomerase, Phospho- fructokinase -1, Aldose, Triose phosphate isomerase, Glyceraldehyde 3- phosphate, Phosphoglycerate kinase, Phosphoglycerate mutase, Enolase and finally Pyruvate kinase.
7. It occurs in plant and animal cells and the cells of microbes.
8. It occurs in the cytoplasm of prokaryotes and the cytosol of eukaryotes.
9. Under anaerobic conditions, glycolysis causes cells to produce ATP. This process is called fermentation.
10. Under aerobic conditions, glycolysis is the first phase of cellular respiration.
Biochemedians 