Amanda's Blogpost #6

Our cabbage is getting bigger due to the rich soil, plenty of water, and good fertilization. Cabbage grows up to 12-14 inches all around and can weight up to 3-5 pounds. Cabbage is very heathly and delicious for both humans and animals and have really good nutrients, such as vitamin C and K. Its predicted that cabbages leaves are actually purple to trap light from the sun to create the leaves green during photosynthesis to make the plant food. The food releases energy through cell respiration. Enzymes belong to the biomolecule group protiens and help cabbage undergo photosynthesis.Cellular respiration is the process by which the chemical energy of "food" molecules is released and partially captured in the form of ATP. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins can all be used as fuels in cellular respiration, but glucose is most commonly used as an example to examine the reactions and pathways involved. In glycolysis, the 6-carbon sugar, glucose, is broken down into two molecules of a 3-carbon molecule called pyruvate. This change is accompanied by a net gain of 2 ATP molecules and 2 NADH molecules. Pyruvate is transported into the mitochondria and loses carbon dioxide to form acetyl-CoA, a 2-carbon molecule. When acetyl-CoA is oxidized to carbon dioxide in the Krebs cycle, chemical energy is released and captured in the form of NADH, FADH 2 , and ATP. The electron transport chain (ETC) consists of a series of molecules, mostly proteins, embedded in the inner mitochondrial membrane.The glucose required for cellular respiration is produced by plants. Plants go through a process known as photosynthesis. Photosynthesis can be thought of as the opposite process of cellular respiration. Through two processes known as the light reactions and the dark reactions, plants have the ability to absorb and utilize the energy in sunlight. This energy is then converted along with water and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into glucose and oxygen. Since this is the opposite process of cellular respiration, plants and animals are said to have a symbiotic relationship. This means that plants and animals live together and benefit from each other. When humans and animals breath, they take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is taken up by plants and oxygen is given off through photosynthesis. There is an equilibrium of oxygen and carbon dioxide created between animals and plants. Without one, the other would not survive for long. The process of mitosis for plants is the process through which a plant cell divides and creates two identical copies of itself, which are referred to as daughter cells. Each of the daughter cells gets a complete copy of the genetic material contained in its parent cell. The phases of plant mitosis are interphase, prophase, methaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokenisis. Interphase is the period whne the cell is not dividing, but its preparing for mitosis. In prophase,genetic material called chromatin condenses and forms chromosomes. The chromosomes are connected together to make pairs joined at a central point called the centromere. Outside the nucleus, structures called centrosomes develop. Their job is to create hollow rods called microtubules. In preparation for the metaphase stage of plant mitosis, the microtubules enter the nucleus and attach to the chromosomes at their centromeres. During metaphase, the centromeres with the attached microtubules move to different ends of the cell. This results in the pulling of the chromosomes toward opposite ends of the cell. The centromeres begin to form a point of separation during this stage. In the anaphase stage, the chromosome pairs separate and half of a pair migrates to one end of the cell while the other half moves to the other end. Microtubules in the cell work to lengthen the plant cell. This prepares the cell for telophase.When its in telophase, its microtubules and centrosomes disintegrate. The leftover nucleus from the original cell creates a nucleus around the chromosomes at opposite ends of the cell. At this point, the chromosomes turn into chromatin once more. When the plant cell enters cytokinesis, it has yet to divide into two independent cells. The cell develops a cell plate at this point, which serves to divide the single cell into two separate daughter cells. The two new daughter cells then pull apart from each other, with each one in possession of an exact copy of the original cell’s genetic material.





Fun fact, Each daughter cell will also have 18 chromosomes during mitosis . This is because daughter cells are identical to the original cell.