The Mighty Mitochondria- The Powerhouse that Powers You!
The mitochondria is by far the most important organelle in the cell. It is the "power plant" of the cell where the energy is produced through cellular respiration. As illustrated below, this is the process in which the enzymes in the matrix, which is a liquid in the mitochondria, create usable energy. The organelle use oxygen and the sugars stored in food (glucose), to produce carbon dioxide, water and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). These ATP molecules serve as the energy sources for all basic functions of life: such as, breathing, eating, moving, thinking and everything that a living thing must do to survive. In addition to producing the essential energy needed in a cell, the mitochondria also completed many other important specialized functions of the organelle. For example, the mitochondria is involved in building, breaking down, and recycling of certain DNA parts. In addition, the mitochondria is responsible for producing parts of certain hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone. If there were no mitochondria than many other essential functions of the cell would not be possible.
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| The process of cellular respiration. |
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| The structure of a mitochondria cell. |
The structure of the mitochondria also plays a role in it's importance. The mitochondria has two membranes as opposed to one like most other organelles. The outer membrane protects the organelle and the inner membrane folds over many times, creating a larger surface area. More space allows for the organelle to do more work and thus be more important.
Information Resources
Nave, R. "Mitochondria." Mitochondria. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013. <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/biology/mitochondria.html>.
Adam-Carr, Christine. Science Perspectives 10. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2010. Print.
In your blog you mention how the mitochondria uses oxygen and stored sugars to produce usable energy that is vital for all the organelles in the cell. However has it ever occurred to you where the sugars and oxygen come from? Well they come from the chloroplast! See the chloroplast makes sugars through a process called photosynthesis. This process converts sunlight, water and carbon dioxide gas to sugars. A by-product of this process is oxygen. Both of these components are crucial to the mitochondria’s function. The mitochondria basically breaks down the sugars already created by the chloroplast. The chloroplast is really the one does all the dirty work, not the mitochondria!
ReplyDeleteAlso in your blog you declare that the mitochondria is by far the most important organelle in the cell. I do believe the mitochondria is essential to the cell, yet I do not believe that statement. The reason for this is because for the mitochondria to do its other specialized functions, it must first convert sugars and oxygen to usable energy. Nonetheless, as I said before, it gets the sugars and oxygen from the chloroplast. It is, in reality, that without the chloroplast, the functions of the organelles in the cell and the cell overall could not be possible. The chloroplast is the foundation of all life. All eukaryotic and some protist cells need the chloroplast to survive. Without it, they could not possibly exist. For the reasons stated above, this just gives you one more reason to vote Chloroplast, king of the organelles! :)
Information reference: "Biology4Kids.com: Cell Structure: Chloroplasts." Rader's BIOLOGY 4 KIDS.COM - Biology basics for everyone!. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2013.
DeleteYou do have some valid points, however the process of photosynthesis that you complete, would not be possible without me, the mitochondria. You state that you need carbon dioxide to complete this process to make food. Where do you think that carbon dioxide is coming from? It is obviously coming from the mitochondria through a process called cellular respiration. In this process we use oxygen, stored sugars in foods to create water, energy and carbon dioxide. Without me, you could not function.
ReplyDeleteThis statement is false because the carbon dioxide that the chloroplast uses is found in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide is not coming from the mitochondria, for the chloroplast used the carbon dioxide in the formation of the sugars through photosynthesis, which the mitochondria breaks down. In addition, according to the Endosymbiotic theory, the chloroplast was a single cell organism. From this we can hypothesis that if millions of years ago the chloroplast survived by itself, how can you assume that the chloroplast needs the mitochondria to function?
DeleteRebecca, carbon dioxide is a byproduct from cellular respiration within the mitochondria. Plus, the endosymbiotic theory also states that mitochondria were also their own organism.
DeleteWhere do you suspect that the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is coming from? It is known that animals breathe out carbon dioxide. What are animals made of? Cells! And what are cells made of, that produce the carbon dioxide? Mitochondria. Therefore, it is very true that the mitochondria produce the carbon dioxide that the chloroplast uses. Also if it is true that the chloroplast was a single cell organism millions of years ago, it was still undergoing the same process. Therefore it was still relying on mitochondria in other cells to produce carbon dioxide.
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ReplyDeleteCellular Respiration requires one glucose molecule and six oxygen molecules to create six carbon dioxide molecules, six water molecules, and approximately thirty-two molecules of ATP. What do you exhale, it's carbon dioxide being formed from the mitochondria.
DeleteC6H12O6 + 6O2 ==> 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy (36 ATP)
Reference for the formula
http://faculty.clintoncc.suny.edu/faculty/michael.gregory/files/bio%20101/bio%20101%20lectures/cellular%20respiration/cellular.htm
I agree that carbon dioxide is a byproduct of cellular respiration, however where did it get the carbon dioxide? From the chloroplast! When photosynthesis occurs it takes sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to produce sugars and oxygen. When the Mitochondria reverses this process through cellular respiration, it is then that carbon dioxide is exposed again.
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