Energy storage, Biology

Assignment Help:

Energy Storage

As we said above, food intake and energy expenditure for animals is approximately equal. If energy expenditure exceeds food intake, then the excess energy is taken up by utilisation of body fat. However, if food intake is excess, then the surplus is stored as fat irrespective of the kind of food eaten. Excess carbohydrates are changed to fats and accordingly RQ exceeds 1. This is because fats contain relatively less oxygen and the excess oxygen of carbohydrates is used in the metabolism. This reduces the oxygen uptake and the respiratory carbon dioxide, oxygen ratio is increased. For this reason fat is ideal storage material for energy. It is much lighter and yields twice as much energy as carbohydrates.

Migratory birds that may have to fly more than 1000 km non-stop, carry fat as 40% to 50% of their body weight. Nonetheless, some carbohydrates are important in energy storage. Glycogen a starch-like carbohydrate polymer is stored as granules in the skeletal muscles and liver of vertebrates. During heavy muscular exercise when blood does not deliver sufficient oxygen to meet demands, glycogen provides the energy. It is broken down directly into glucose-6-phosphate, providing fuel for carbohydrate metabolism more directly than does fat, On the other hand, many animals that do not move about, also store glycogen as excess energy source. For example, clams, oysters and many intestinal parasites like Ascaris use glycogen as the storage material. These animals have to face anaerobic conditions and in such situations glycogen breaks down to acetic acid to yield energy.


Related Discussions:- Energy storage

Blood flow, if i start in the superior mesenteric vain where do i have to g...

if i start in the superior mesenteric vain where do i have to go through to get to the left anterior circumflex humeral artery. by the way of the hepatic portal vein and the heart

How identical proteins form, Are proteins with the same number of each diff...

Are proteins with the same number of each different amino acid that form them necessarily identical proteins? Even if many proteins have the similar number of each dissimilar a

What is translocation, What is Translocation? Sometimes pieces of two c...

What is Translocation? Sometimes pieces of two chromosomes that are not homologous break off at the same time. If the broken pieces are re-attached to the opposite (in this cas

Thalassemia, Thalassemia   Thalassemias are the commonest hemolytic ana...

Thalassemia   Thalassemias are the commonest hemolytic anaemias or disorder seen in children in India. This is characterised by deficiency  in the synthesis  of one of the norm

Saturated fatty acids, Saturated Fatty Acids - These are solid at ro...

Saturated Fatty Acids - These are solid at room temperature. These are metabolically less active so have a tendency to deposit in the body (synthesized in body) These

Skeletal tissue - bone, BON E - Bone is the hardest tissue in the ...

BON E - Bone is the hardest tissue in the body and supports various organs. The inorganic salts present in the matrix are calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, calci

Explain about genetic engineering, Genetic engineering has been successfull...

Genetic engineering has been successfully used for producing: 1. Transgenic mice for testing safety of polio vaccine before use in humans 2. transgenic models for studying ne

What is an oligopeptide, What is an oligopeptide? How is it different from ...

What is an oligopeptide? How is it different from a polypeptide? Peptide is the molecule produced by the union of amino acids through the peptide bond. Oligopeptide is a peptid

Explain alginate, Alginate Alginates are produced by brown seaweeds (Ph...

Alginate Alginates are produced by brown seaweeds (Phaeophyceae, mainly  Laminaria).  Alginates or algin, is a generic term for the salts and derivatives of alginic acid. Algin

Inorganic substances, INORGANI C SUBSTANCES They are small, simple, lo...

INORGANI C SUBSTANCES They are small, simple, low molecular weight substances which are made of elements other than Carbon and Hydrogen combined together. Inorganic substan

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd