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Role of Electron Transport Chain

Except for autotrophic microbes and plants--which survive on sunlight, all other living beings extract energy from the nutrients and this process involves a number of metabolic reactions, generally referred to as cellular respiration. The electron transport chain, also referred to as electron transfer chain is the most productive and complex pathway of the cellular respiration.

  1. Cellular Respiration and ATP

    • Irrespective of the initial form of energy, the energy must be converted ultimately to adenosine triphosphate or ATP. ATP is the cellular energy currency. Most of the organisms use this process of cellular respiration to accomplish the conversion of food to energy. Cellular respiration is the process of a series of different pathways in which the energy is extracted by breaking down the glucose or sugar and is also converted to ATP.

    Pathways

    • The various pathways of cellular respiration comprise of Krebs cycle, glycolysis and electron transport chain. Among all the different pathways, the electron transport chain is the most efficient, productive and complex. For every glucose molecule, it generates 34 molecules of ATP.

    Location

    • To work, the process of electron transport needs a membrane. In organisms such as bacteria, which contain the prokaryotic cells, the electron transport chain takes place within the membrane of the cell. But in the complex cells referred to as eukaryotic cells of fungi, animals and plants, the process of electron transport takes place within a special cellular organelle referred to as mitochondria. Mitochondrion is known as the power house of the eukaryotic cell.

    Role of Electron Transport Chain

    • Th electron transport chain involves two different types of electron donors that are energy rich. The two electron donors are succinate and NADH (an enzyme located in the inner mitochondrial membrane). The electrons from both of these donors pass through the electron transport chain to oxygen, which gets reduced to water. This series of steps occurs inside the inner membranes of mitochondria.

      The oxygen acts as the terminal electron acceptor that accepts the electrons from the donors. In photosynthetic organisms, sunlight is used to create the electron acceptor and the high energy electron donor. The electron transport chain is then used to transport the electron from the donor to the acceptor.

    Redox Reactions

    • The redox reactions or oxidation-reduction reactions which transfer the electrons from an electron donor to the electron acceptor are nothing but the electron transport chains, one of the most productive pathways.

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