Plant Mitochondrial Electron Transfer and Molecular Biology.

Abstract

Severa1 types of reduced carbon com- pounds, including fatty acids, organic acids, and amino acids, can serve as the primary reducing substrates for plant respi- ration. However, the most common substrate used by plant tissues for respiration is carbohydrate (CHpO). The complete oxidation of a carbohydrate releases a large amount of free energy, much of which is coupled to the conversion of ADP and Pi to ATI? When sucrose (Cl2H=0,1) is the substrate, aer- obic respiration can be divided into three distinct phases: glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and the coupled processes of mitochondrial electron transfer and ATP synthe- sis. Except for glycolysis, all of the metabolic steps of aerobic respiration take place in the mitochondrion. Like mitochon- dria found in other eukaryotes, plant mitochondria are roughly spherical subcellular organelles that usually range from