In this video, we're going to distinguish between Catabolic and Anabolic Pathways. And so really there are 2 main types of metabolic pathways. The first type are going to be catabolic pathways or catabolism, and the second are going to be anabolic pathways or anabolism. And so catabolic pathways or catabolism are going to be pathways that release energy into the environment by breaking down molecules into smaller ones. And anabolic pathways are pretty much the exact opposite, so instead of releasing energy into the environment, they are going to be spending energy or requiring an energy input, and they use that energy in order to build up larger molecules such as DNA and proteins, for instance. And so catabolic pathways, because they release energy into the environment, they are going to be associated with exergonic processes. And anabolic pathways, because they spend energy or require an energy input, they're going to be associated with endergonic processes. And so let's take a look at our image down below to further distinguish between catabolic and anabolic reactions and pathways. And so notice over here on the left-hand side, we're focusing on catabolism, and over here on the right-hand side, we're focusing on Anabolism. Now, Catabolism is all about breaking down molecules, large molecules, into smaller pieces, their smaller components. Whereas, Anabolism is all about building up, building larger molecules using smaller molecules. And so when you think about catabolism, you can see the word cat that is embedded inside of catabolism, and so when you see catabolism, you could think about a cat, And that's because cats, really all they can do is pounce on a pyramid like this one and break it down into its smaller components. But a cat can't really do the opposite. A cat cannot build this pyramid like what we see here. If you ever see a cat build a pyramid like this, please give me a call. I'd like to see that. But when you think about catabolism, you can think about cats and you can think about cats pouncing on pyramids and breaking down the pyramids like what we see here. Now Anabolism doesn't have the word cat in it, and so if there's no cat to break it down, then it's going to allow for building up. And so over here, notice that we've got, for metabolism, the cat is breaking down the molecules into their smaller components, and here we have an enzyme breaking down a larger molecule into its smaller components. And then over here on the right for Anabolism, we're showing building up. So notice that the building blocks are being built up into the larger, more structured pyramid. And here we're taking the smaller building blocks and the enzyme is converting it into a larger piece here, building up. And so really this is the main difference between Catabolism and Anabolism. Catabolism is going to break down and Anabolism is going to build up. And so that concludes our introduction to catabolic and anabolic pathways, and we'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts as we move forward in our course. So I'll see you all in our next video.
Table of contents
- 1. Introduction to Biology2h 40m
- 2. Chemistry3h 40m
- 3. Water1h 26m
- 4. Biomolecules2h 23m
- 5. Cell Components2h 26m
- 6. The Membrane2h 31m
- 7. Energy and Metabolism2h 0m
- 8. Respiration2h 40m
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- 10. Cell Signaling59m
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- Introduction to Mendel's Experiments7m
- Genotype vs. Phenotype17m
- Punnett Squares13m
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- Incomplete Dominance vs. Codominance20m
- Epistasis7m
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- 16. Regulation of Expression3h 31m
- Introduction to Regulation of Gene Expression13m
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- The Lac Operon21m
- Glucose's Impact on Lac Operon25m
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- Review of the Lac Operon & Trp Operon11m
- Introduction to Eukaryotic Gene Regulation9m
- Eukaryotic Chromatin Modifications16m
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- Eukaryotic Post-Transcriptional Regulation28m
- Eukaryotic Post-Translational Regulation13m
- 17. Viruses37m
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- 20. Development1h 5m
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- 24. History of Life on Earth2h 6m
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- 30. Overview of Animals34m
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- 41. Immune System1h 12m
- 42. Osmoregulation and Excretion50m
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- 48. Ecology3h 11m
- Introduction to Ecology20m
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- Earth's Climate Patterns50m
- Introduction to Terrestrial Biomes10m
- Terrestrial Biomes: Near Equator13m
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- Terrestrial Biomes: Northern Regions15m
- Introduction to Aquatic Biomes27m
- Freshwater Aquatic Biomes14m
- Marine Aquatic Biomes13m
- 49. Animal Behavior28m
- 50. Population Ecology3h 41m
- Introduction to Population Ecology28m
- Population Sampling Methods23m
- Life History12m
- Population Demography17m
- Factors Limiting Population Growth14m
- Introduction to Population Growth Models22m
- Linear Population Growth6m
- Exponential Population Growth29m
- Logistic Population Growth32m
- r/K Selection10m
- The Human Population22m
- 51. Community Ecology2h 46m
- Introduction to Community Ecology2m
- Introduction to Community Interactions9m
- Community Interactions: Competition (-/-)38m
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- Community Interactions: Mutualism (+/+) & Commensalism (+/0)9m
- Community Structure35m
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- 52. Ecosystems2h 36m
- 53. Conservation Biology24m
7. Energy and Metabolism
Introduction to Metabolism
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