Chemical rearrangement and partial substrate oxidation generate:
- ATP
- reduced and oxidized end products
- restored redox balance
Operational definition
Energy-conversion mechanism.
The conversion of chemical free energy through internally balanced oxidation and reduction of a substrate or substrate-derived intermediates, without dependence on an external respiratory acceptor.
Its essential functions are:
- partial substrate oxidation;
- regeneration of oxidized cofactors;
- formation of reduced end products;
- conservation of part of the released free energy.
Item 18 classifies the organism’s metabolic mode; item 23 identifies the corresponding energy-conversion process. Reaction-center systems and retinal-based rhodopsins are the two major evolved forms of biological light-energy conversion, while microbial electron transport conserves chemical-redox energy in ion gradients and other energetic intermediates. (PubMed Central (PMC))