Removing the Electron Transport Chain from Cellular Respiration

Cellular Respiration converts oxygen and sugar (glucose) into water, carbon dioxide, and energy (ATP). All eukaryotic celled organisms go through the process of cellular respiration which takes place in the mitochondrion. There are three connected processes that complete cellular respiration, each producing a certain amount of ATP molecules. The three processes are Glycolysis, the Kreb’s Cycle (Citric Acid Cycle), and the electron transport chain (ETC). Glycolysis occurs in the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell which splits glucose (6 carbon molecules), into 2 pyruvic acids’ which each are 3 carbon molecules. The Kreb’s Cycle occurs in the matrix. It uses 1 carbon from the pyruvic acid and is used to make carbon dioxide when it combines with 2 molecules of oxygen. The other 2 carbon molecules combine with 4 carbon molecules to create a citric acid compound consisting of 6 carbon molecules. Two of these carbon molecules break apart and split up, combining with molecules of oxygen to make 2 compounds of carbon dioxide This process creates a total of 3 carbon dioxide molecules and continues to repeat and recycle the remaining 4 carbon molecules. The final process is the Electron Transport Chain which creates the most ATP energy molecules. Electrons move from NADH and go to the electron carrier. The electrons then travel through ETC and force hydrogen ions into the inter-membrane space of the mitochondrion. Then, the electron readies the last electron carrier and combines hydrogen ion and oxygen to create H₂O.  The inter-membrane space is hypertonic so the hydrogen ions travel through ATP synthase to the matrix. The ATP synthase joins ADP and phosphate in order to create ATP molecules.

The Electron Transport Chain is a very important process of cellular respiration. Although all three stages of Cellular Respiration generate and produce energy (ATP), ETC produces the most of the three. If ETC no longer took place during the process of Cellular Respiration; it would cause many changes to occur. Eukaryotic cells are within all animals, plants, fungi, and protista organisms. This means that a change in Cellular Respiration would affect all these organisms because the mitochondrion will not produce as many ATP molecules, causing a loss of energy and affecting their ability to perform. The ETC produces 32-34 of 36-38 ATP molecules in each process, which would be a 90% decrease in the amount of energy produced each cycle. The effects of this could result in the mitochondrion being pushed and exerting them too much, or a deep decrease in energy levels and ability to perform. The Electron Transport Chain is composed mostly of proteins, which help a person’s body, as well as other organisms, to build tissues, muscles, and other vital parts of the body structure. Loss of this could result in very deathly results, causing major problems due to the lack of stored protein.

Finally, the ETC uses oxygen directly. This would result in unused/unchanged oxygen molecules in the atmosphere. This could possibly lead to the inability to convert oxygen into CO₂, carbon dioxide, and result in an overdose of oxygen within the body and atmosphere, not being able to get rid of it by turning it to carbon dioxide. This would then affect organisms, such as plants, who consume CO₂.

As you can see by these possibilities, the removal of the Electron Transport Chain could have devastating results for all organisms containing eukaryotic cells and that go through the process of Cellular Respiration, including all animals, plants, protista, and fungi organisms.

Removing Carbon Dioxide from Photosynthasis

 

There are two main reactions, or processes, that occur during the process of photosynthesis within a plant. Sunlight begins by hitting the chlorophyll in Photosystem II and exciting the electrons (e-). Then, these excited electrons move to Photosystem I. The excited electrons cause water, H2O to break apart into oxygen, hydrogen, and more electrons. These electrons then move to the electron transport chain, ETC, where they force hydrogen into the thylakoid membrane. Inside the thylakoid, there is too many hydrogen ions which causes an imbalance which then forces ATP synthase (protein) to move hydrogen ions out. This causes ADP to make ATP. ATP then moves to the light independent reaction. It breaks apart carbon dioxide, CO2, to make new carbon molecules called PGA and RUBP. These carbon molecules produce glucose, food for the plants. This process is very complicated and detailed. If one factor is removed, the entire process could change and affect life in very drastic and possibly have some devastating outcomes.

When you remove carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the process, your outcome could completely change the world as we know it. Photosynthesis uses the energy of sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars (glucose) and oxygen. Sunlight + 6CO2 + 6H2O = C6H12O6 + 6O2. Carbon dioxide molecules are an essential part of the photosynthesis process. Without CO2, glucose would not be possible because it requires 6 molecules of carbon. Oxygen would not be made either, because oxygen consists of the 6O2 molecules that were left from the carbon dioxide equation/compound. Without glucose, plants would be forced to adapt to a different type of glucose made of a different compound, or a completely different food and energy source altogether. The sudden removal of CO2 would result in an inability to adapt and would kill the plant due to the lack of food and much needed nutrients for survival. Also, the oxygen supply in Earth’s atmosphere would not last forever. If all plants were unable to produce oxygen, humans, animals, and any other organisms that survive on oxygen would use up all the supply and then leave their supply empty, causing mass extinctions. Changing photosynthesis, a process that is a required resource for most life on Earth, would result in extinction of hundreds of thousands of species, leaving very minimal species of organisms alive. There would be no plant life or human activity of any kind if CO2 was removed from Photosynthesis.

Ocean Acidification and Possible Effects on Trophic Levels and Food Webs

                Ocean acidification is a huge climatic disaster that is ongoing due to high levels of CO2 in the atmosphere that then is absorbed into the ocean and reducing pH levels of the ocean water, home to millions of marine organisms. This affects all life within the water, changing their way of living by forcing them to adapt to new living conditions, or to move to better, more suitable living conditions.

 

  

              Marine food webs are changed greatly when organisms leave their habitats, traveling possibly hundreds of miles away to new locations, and creating or finding a new habitat that they find suitable to survive in, or becoming extinct due to the inability to survive with the current living conditions. This would mean that the other organisms in their ‘old’ food web, too, would have to adapt to the less variety of foods available for their taking, making it difficult for them to survive without adapting to the change. Also, they would be forced to adapt to the lack of nutrients found within that organism that is no longer within their locations.

                One example of an energy pyramid is the phytoplankton and seaweed, the producers/autotrophs of the energy pyramid. The primary consumers or the organisms that consume the phytoplankton and seaweed for their energy are the zooplankton and the cockles. The organisms that consume these organisms, then, are the juvenile stage of fish/jellyfish, small fish, crustaceans, and sea stars. The fourth level of this energy pyramid of organisms is the second level of carnivorous consumers, larger fish who consume the smaller fish and sea stars. Squid would then consume the large fish, and albatross, dolphins, and sharks are at the top of the pyramid, consuming the squids from the lower level. If ocean acidification affected the water enough to require any of these organisms to adapt, or to need to relocate and find a new habitat, then all the levels would be affected because of this. If there were no levels of sea life after the autotrophs, then there would be an abundant amount of them, and they would fight for places and resources to produce with. And, if a middle level was to be removed, the levels above would be forced to relocate to a location that has organisms remaining that they are adapted to eating, or would have to change their diet and readapt themselves to eating the lower level organisms.

Coral reefs are living organisms that provide shelter to fish in the sea. They are homes to thousands of different fish types, and are deeply affected by ocean acidification. They are found to be one of the most important ecosystems on the Earth. So what would happen if they were to be killed due to the high amounts of changes in the pH levels of the ocean water? They could become an unsuitable habitat for the fish that take shelter, possibly causing these fish to go extinct. Or even the coral reefs themselves, going extinct as well. These coral reef habitats are critical to many species of fishes’ lives. Researchers find ocean acidification to be a big factor in the degradation and collapse of many of these ecosystems and habitats all over the world.

Ocean acidification is a real problem, affecting marine ecosystems and marine food webs all around the world. It can completely change an ecosystem and food web, or more drastically, over time, destroy it. Many species of organisms could go extinct and could change the living styles of many other organisms.

Removing Denitrification from the Nitrogen Cycle

The Nitrogen Cycle cycles nitrogen throughout the Earth, changing its form to other forms, including N2 (nitrogen gas), NO3 (nitrate ions), NO2 (nitrite ions), and NH3 (ammonia). Nitrogen cycles and goes through various abiotic and biotic items, changing form often, and continuing to cycle constantly. N2, the nitrogen gas form of nitrogen makes up around 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere. NO3 and NO2 are nitrogen forms that are found in waste products of living organisms, as well as within organisms that are deceased (dead) and/or decaying. Human activity helps to release nitrogen in the form of nitrate into the atmosphere which is often then used in plant fertilizers. N2 can only be used by some organisms in this form; other organisms can use nitrogen once it has changed its form through processes such as bacterial nitrogen fixation, a process in which bacteria organisms, legumes, or atmospheric nitrogen fixation, to change its form from N2 to the other forms of nitrogen. On the other hand, a different type of bacteria in the soil goes through denitrification converting NO3, NO2, and NH3 to N2 and releasing this nitrogen gas back into the atmosphere.

Denitrification is very important to the Nitrogen Cycle. If it were to be removed, then many things would be affected in return. When nitrogen gas, N2, moves into the soil and goes through bacterial nitrogen fixation, it is turned into NO2, NO3, or NH3. Once it is turned into one of these products, plants and other organisms can use it and then it eventually gets passed on to other organisms. For example, when a primary consumer consumes a producer, the nitrogen gets passed on from that producer to the primary consumer. It will eventually go through soil bacterial nitrogen fixation and be released into the atmosphere, however, without denitrification; it will not be transformed back into N2 or get released back into the atmosphere. Eventually, over time, N2 will no longer be N2 because it will all be ‘stuck’ in organisms and the soil. N2 currently makes up 78% of the atmosphere, so the effect it could have on Earth’s atmosphere could be very severe. Also N2 helps humans in food digestion and overall body growth. It forms 3% of our body weight. It is too, an essential component in cellular respiration. It is used to help make ATP (energy) molecules for organisms.

Another use for N2 is a variety of industrial uses. Industries and businesses use N2 to be able to produce their products, to complete a variety of different projects. Two types of industries that use N2 are oil and gas industries. Both of these industries are essential in keeping life as we know it from being turned completely upside down. By removing all the nitrogen gas from the atmosphere, it all becomes too much for the needs of organisms it is transferred into and there would be no way to rid of it, as well as a total disturbance in everything that uses the N2 form of nitrogen to operate properly. If N2 runs out by being stuck in other forms of nitrogen, the effects will be very noticeable.

Too many NO2 molecules are very harmful for all living organisms. In the video, “The Nitrogen Cycle – It’s Easy!” by MyFishCare101, the illustrator shows a picture at the time of 1:03 that shows this by drawing arrows which represent nitrites and pointing up towards a dead fish within the aquarium. This can happen with anything that is too abundant for our needs and ability to rid of it.