how does your garden grow?: Blog Post #6

How Does Your Garden Grow?: Gabriel Adint

1. Our plant changed greatly in structure and biomass since the last time we observed it.

Mitosis is one of the processes that contributed to the growth and change in our plant. mitosis is the process of cellular reproduction. In mitosis, the chromosomes in the cell double and the spindle fibers pull the two sets of chromosomes apart. The cells divide and there are now two different cells that are exactly alike.

Photosynthesis produces ATP which is needed for the process of mitosis to happen. In photosynthesis the chloroplasts of a cell convert sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into oxygen and glucose.  The chloroplasts use the sunlight to break apart water molecules. Broken down water molecules give the plant oxygen, hydrogen, and electrons that travel from protein to protein known as the electron transport chain. NADP is converted into NADPH. This is then used in the plants light independent reactions that synthesize ATP from ADP. This reaction takes place in the cell's thylakoid membrane.

The four stages of cellular respiration are known as glycolysis, link reaction, Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain. In glycolysis, sugars in the cytoplasm are broken down into two molecules of pyruvate. The pyruvate in Link reaction gets rid of a carbon dioxide molecule and is converted into acetyl CoA. Then, in the Kreb Cycle, the acetyl CoA is broken down by enzymes and the carbon dioxide is released again. Four molecules of carbon are released. In the end of the cycle it forms two molecules of pyruvic acid, two ATP molecules, ten NADH molecules, and two FADH2 molecules. The NADH and FADH2 generated in the Kreb Cycle are oxidized, providing energy to power ATP synthase and create 34 molecules of ATP, making ETC the most productive part of cellular respiration.

To produce enzymes which are usually proteins, the cell uses RNA and the ribosomes in order to make mRNA. In order to make mRNA, RNA makes a copy of DNA. The mRNA is transported to the ribosomes which read the codon sequences starting with AUG the codons are read and tell the cell which proteins to make.