Describe the end results of cellular catabolic activities.
Before nutrient energy can be utilized by a cell, the cell must engage in breaking-down, or cabalistic, activities that transfer the energy contained by the nutrient molecules to adenosine triphosphate (ATP), molecules from which the cell can draw energy directly when doing work. The cabalistic activities that produce ATP result in: 1) the degradation of the original energy-containing nutrient molecule to carbon dioxide and water and 2) the binding of the energy released during the degradation to ATP through phosphorylation, a reaction in which ATP is synthesized from adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate. Cabalistic reactions are commonly divided into two groups: those that can take place whether or not oxygen is present, known as anaerobic metabolism, and those that require the presence of oxygen, known as aerobic metabolism or cellular respiration.
