Using energy from light, plants chemically combine carbon dioxide and water to create glucose and oxygen. This process is called photosynthesis. Plants also absorb oxygen gas from the air. Like animals, plants need oxygen to respire.

Cellular respiration is a chemical reaction plants need to get energy from glucose. Respiration uses glucose and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water and release energy.

All living things, plants and animals, require a continual supply of energy in order to function. The energy is used for all the processes which keep the organism alive. This special carrier of energy is the molecule adenosine triphosphate, or ATP.

ATP stands for adenosine triphosphate. It is a molecule found in the cells of living organisms. It is said to be very important because it transports the energy necessary for all cellular metabolic activities. Without ATP, various metabolic activities in the human body cannot take place.

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) is a more immediate source of energy than glucose because ATP is produced in the cells and its conversion to energy is a single-step process. Whereas glucose first needs to be broken down in order to be used as an energy source.

ATP Fuel® is designed to support the Krebs Cycle of cellular energy production. The Krebs Cycle takes place inside the mitochondria or “power plant” of the cell and it is the body’s primary energy producer. ATP Fuel® is formulated for athletes and patients seeking optimized energy.

Directions. Take five capsules 30 minutes before breakfast and five capsules before lunch or dinner (ten capsules per day) for the first two months, and five capsules before breakfast in month 3 and beyond.

ATP is the primary source of energy for the cells, and supplementation may enhance the ability to maintain high ATP turnover during high-intensity exercise. Oral ATP supplements have beneficial effects in some but not all studies examining physical performance.

ATP provides the energy for muscle contraction. The three mechanisms for ATP regeneration are creatine phosphate, anaerobic glycolysis, and aerobic metabolism. Creatine phosphate provides about the first 15 seconds of ATP at the beginning of muscle contraction.

In this reaction, a phosphate group (in red) is transferred from phosphocreatine to ADP to form ATP very rapidly, allowing muscle contraction to continue for about 10 seconds. When phosphocreatine is depleted, the muscles must turn to metabolism of fuel molecules to produce more ATP to power physical activity.

Cellular Respiration Mitochondria in the muscle fibers can convert pyruvate into ATP in the presence of oxygen via the Krebs Cycle, generating an additional 30 molecules of ATP.

ATP is critical for muscle contractions because it breaks the myosin-actin cross-bridge, freeing the myosin for the next contraction.

Calcium triggers contraction in striated muscle. (A) Actomyosin in striated muscle. (1) Striated muscle in the relaxed state has tropomyosin covering myosin-binding sites on actin. (2) Calcium binds to troponin C, which induces a conformational change in the troponin complex.

A muscle may also stop contracting when it runs out of ATP and becomes fatigued. The release of calcium ions initiates muscle contractions. The contraction of a striated muscle fiber occurs as the sarcomeres, linearly arranged within myofibrils, shorten as myosin heads pull on the actin filaments.

The process of muscular contraction occurs over a number of key steps, including:

1. Depolarisation and calcium ion release.
2. Actin and myosin cross-bridge formation.
3. Sliding mechanism of actin and myosin filaments.
4. Sarcomere shortening (muscle contraction)

Terms in this set (5)

• exposure of active sites – Ca2+ binds to troponin receptors.
• Formation of cross-bridges – myosin interacts with actin.
• pivoting of myosin heads.
• detachment of cross-bridges.
• reactivation of myosin.

Terms in this set (14)

• Action potential arrives at axon terminal.
• Trigger voltage gated calcium channels.
• Calcium causes ACh to be released by exocytosis.
• ACh diffuses across junction.
• Influx of sodium to sarcolema.
• Action potential travels down sarcolema and into t-tubule.
• Calcium is released from sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Terms in this set (6)

• Rule #1. Muscles have two+ attachments and must cross at least one joint.
• Rule #2. Muscles “pull” and get shorter.
• Rule #3. attachment that moves is the insertion.
• Rule #4. Muscles that decrease angle between ventral surfaces are flexors.
• Rule #5. Muscles work in opposing pairs.
• Rule #6.