Microbial metabolism: Energy Generation and Biomass Production

This lecture covers microbial metabolism, focusing on catabolism for energy production and anabolism for biomass synthesis. It explains the role of redox reactions in generating energy, the diversity of metabolic pathways in prokaryotes, and the importance of electron carriers. The lecture also discusses the relationship between catabolism and anabolism, the synthesis of biomass precursors from central metabolic pathways, and the different types of microbial metabolism based on electron donors, acceptors, carbon, and energy sources. Additionally, it explores the mechanisms of energy conservation in aerobic and anaerobic respiration, the function of electron carriers like NADH, flavins, quinones, and FeS clusters, and the role of coenzymes like Coenzyme A in energy production.