Names, classification, structure and function and their inter-relationship to the Q cycle, photosynthesis and ATP synthesis

Abstract

At first sight prokaryote nomenclature the Q cycle, photosynthesis and the synthesis of ATP may appear to be poles apart. However, biology has set us a difficult task in taking chemistry and physics, wrapping it up in cloak of proteins, polysaccharides, lipids and nucleic acids and setting science the task of making sense of it all. It is in unravelling that cloak that we find that organisms have developed an amazing array of solutions to surviving on the planet Earth, none more diverse than the Bacteria and Archaea (descriptively “prokaryotes”). Taking a model organism may allow us to solve a particular question by looking at in depth. As we investigate them in more depth it is clear that while a chemical reaction may occur in a diversity of organism, there may be essential differences between very different organisms. In order to communicate what we find there is a need to have a set of standardised terms, like names of chemical compounds, enzymes, parts of organisms or organisms themselves. It is the task of the present paper to link the elements of names, classification, structure and function, the Q cycle, photosynthesis and ATP synthesis.