Physical exercise involves both anabolic and catabolic processes. Some examples include body cells which break down sugars to provide ATP to do the work necessary for exercise, such as muscle contractions. In this case, this is catabolism. Also, muscle cells must repair muscle tissue damaged by exercise by building new muscle. Here, this is anabolism.

<h2>Pathways of Metabolism</h2>
<p>The processes of making and breaking down sugar molecules illustrate two types of metabolic pathways. Generally, a metabolic pathway is a series of interconnected <a data-lesson="biochemical-reactions" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="biology-foundations" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/biology-foundations/biochemical-reactions">biochemical reactions</a> that convert a substrate molecule or molecules, step-by-step, through a series of metabolic intermediates, eventually yielding a final product or products.</p>
<p>In the case of sugar metabolism, the first metabolic pathway synthesized sugar from smaller molecules. Conversely, the other pathway broke sugar down into smaller molecules. These two opposite processes—the first requiring energy and the second producing energy—are referred to as <strong>anabolic</strong> (building) and <strong>catabolic</strong> (breaking down) pathways, respectively. Consequently, metabolism is composed of building (<strong>anabolism</strong>) and degradation (<strong>catabolism</strong>).</p>
<h3>Evolution of Metabolic Pathways</h3>
<p>There is more to the complexity of metabolism than understanding the metabolic pathways alone. Metabolic complexity varies from organism to organism. Photosynthesis is the primary pathway in which photosynthetic organisms like <a data-lesson="nutritional-adaptations-of-plants" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="soil-plant-nutrition" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/soil-plant-nutrition/nutritional-adaptations-of-plants">plants</a> harvest the sun’s energy and convert it into carbohydrates. Note that planktonic algae carry out the majority of global synthesis. The by-product of <a data-lesson="photosynthesis" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="cell-biology" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/cell-biology/photosynthesis">photosynthesis</a> is oxygen, required by some cells to carry out cellular respiration.</p>
<p>During cellular respiration, <a data-lesson="transport-of-oxygen-in-the-blood" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="respiratory-system" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/respiratory-system/transport-of-oxygen-in-the-blood">oxygen</a> aids in the catabolic breakdown of carbon compounds, like carbohydrates. Among the products of this catabolism are CO<sub>2</sub> and ATP. In addition, some <a data-lesson="characteristics-of-eukaryotes" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="protists" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/protists/characteristics-of-eukaryotes">eukaryotes</a> perform catabolic processes without oxygen (fermentation). That is, they perform or use anaerobic metabolism.</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_95928" style="width: 800px"><a href="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/325a19d4-c95c-4ff2-8329-1cab8e901ff1"><img alt="metabolism-evolution-tree" class="size-full wp-image-95928" height="382" src="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/325a19d4-c95c-4ff2-8329-1cab8e901ff1" width="800"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">This tree shows the evolution of the various branches of life. The vertical dimension is time. Early life forms, in blue, used anaerobic metabolism to obtain energy from their surroundings. Image Credit: OpenStax Biology</p></div>
<p>Organisms probably evolved anaerobic metabolism to survive. Note that living organisms came into existence about 3.8 billion years ago, when the atmosphere lacked oxygen. Despite the differences between organisms and the complexity of metabolism, researchers have found that all branches of life share some of the same metabolic pathways, suggesting that all organisms evolved from the same ancient common ancestor (<a href="#attachment_95928">see image above</a>).</p>
<p>Evidence indicates that over time, the pathways diverged, adding specialized <a data-lesson="enzymes-2" data-subject="biology" data-tutorial="biology-foundations" href="https://app.ulearngo.com/biology/biology-foundations/enzymes-2">enzymes</a> to allow organisms to better adapt to their environment, thus increasing their chance to survive. However, the underlying principle remains that all organisms must harvest energy from their environment and convert it to ATP to carry out cellular functions.</p>
<h2 data-type="title">Anabolic and Catabolic Pathways</h2>
<p id="fs-id1786617"><span data-type="term">Anabolic</span> pathways require an input of energy to synthesize complex molecules from simpler ones. Synthesizing sugar from CO<sub>2</sub> is one example. Other examples are the synthesis of large proteins from amino acid building blocks, and the synthesis of new DNA strands from nucleic acid building blocks. These biosynthetic processes are critical to the life of the cell and they take place constantly. In addition, they demand energy provided by ATP and other high-energy molecules like NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) and NADPH (<a href="#attachment_95929">see image below</a>).</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_95929" style="width: 800px"><a href="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/a9e0fea1-fcdb-4301-bc22-5d0b732151ac"><img alt="metabolic-pathways" class="size-full wp-image-95929" height="255" src="https://data.ulearngo.com/assets/a9e0fea1-fcdb-4301-bc22-5d0b732151ac" width="800"/></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Anabolic pathways are those that require energy to synthesize larger molecules. Catabolic pathways are those that generate energy by breaking down larger molecules. Cells require both types of pathways for maintaining energy balance. Image credit: OpenStax College Biology</p></div>
<p id="fs-id2315426">ATP is an important molecule for cells to have in sufficient supply at all times. The breakdown of sugars illustrates how a single molecule of glucose can store enough energy to make a great deal of ATP, 36 to 38 molecules. This is a <span data-type="term">catabolic</span> pathway. Catabolic pathways involve the degradation (or breakdown) of complex molecules into simpler ones. Molecular energy stored in the bonds of complex molecules is released in catabolic pathways and harvested in such a way that it can be used to produce ATP. Other energy-storing molecules, such as fats, are also broken down through similar catabolic reactions to release energy and make ATP (<a href="#attachment_95929">see image above</a>).</p>
<p id="fs-id1235966">It is important to know that the chemical reactions of metabolic pathways don’t take place spontaneously. Each reaction step is facilitated, or catalyzed, by a protein called an enzyme. Enzymes are important for catalyzing all types of biological reactions—those that require energy as well as those that release energy.</p>

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Metabolic Pathways

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