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

Scrapie, Scrapie This is a chronic fatal disease of sheep and occasiona...

Scrapie This is a chronic fatal disease of sheep and occasionally of goats caused by a Prion agent similar to BSE. The disease is reported from Europe, North America and in a f

What is the logic of the transfusional compatibility, What is the logic of ...

What is the logic of the transfusional compatibility concerning the ABO blood group system? The transfusional compatibility for the ABO system takes into account the antigens s

NEED HELP PLEASE MICROBIOLOGY, what is a protein-to-protein interaction in ...

what is a protein-to-protein interaction in other words what 2 proteins must be together for transcription to take place and what 2 proteins for replication?

How to calculate the net protein utilization (npu), How to calculate the Ne...

How to calculate the Net Protein Utilization (NPU)? Mitchell (1922) introduced the term 'Net Utilization of Dietary Protein' which is a product of digestibility coefficient and

Biota of the neritic oceanic zone, Biota of the Neritic Oceanic Zone T...

Biota of the Neritic Oceanic Zone This zone constitutes 75 per cent of the total oceanic area and is relatively rich in species and high in productivity owing to factors such

Explain what is mustard operation, Explain what is Mustard Operation ? ...

Explain what is Mustard Operation ? The difference in Mustard operation is that either pericardium or polyester patch is used for making the inter atrial baffle. The baffle com

What are the ions, Q. What are the ions? What are the two kinds of molecule...

Q. What are the ions? What are the two kinds of molecules into which ions are classified ? Ions are substances or atoms electrically charged by means of gain or loss of electron

What are passive and active immunization, What are passive and active immun...

What are passive and active immunization? According to the duration of the protection how do these types of immunization differ? Active immunization is that in which an antigen

Do algae reproduce sexually or asexually, Do algae reproduce sexually or as...

Do algae reproduce sexually or asexually? There are algae that replicate sexually and there are algae that replicate asexually. In unicellular algae reproduction is usually

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