Mechanisms of Energy Transduction

Abstract

Energy transduction is one of the most fascinating areas of plant metabolism, and a large amount of research effort has been directed towards the elucidation of the mechanisms by which the various processes take place. The term transduction refers to the conversion of one form of energy into another, such as the use of light energy to generate ATP from ADP in the chloroplast. However, this research is difficult because the reactions involved are complex and usually require an organized structure. for example, the bulk of the ATP synthesis occurs in the mitochondrion and requires the integrity of the inner membrane of the organelle to be intact. Hence, one cannot study mitochondrial ATP synthesis as one would study an enzyme, since an enzyme can be purified and treated as a normal chemical catalyst. Instead, numerous components are involved, and, although the study of each one independently may be useful, it can lead to misconceptions or to information that is irrelevant or impossible to integrate into a coherent picture . In this section wewill discuss the synthesis of ATP as a prime example of energy transduction.