Question

What are cristae associated with?

Answer 1

Cristae:

1. Mitochondria is a double membrane-bound structure with the outer and the inner membrane.
2. The outer membrane forms the continuous limiting boundary of the organelle and forms a separation between the internal and external environment of the cell.
3. The inner membrane is thrown into several infoldings called the cristae (singular: crista) towards the matrix.
4. Matrix of mitochondria are the sites of aerobic respiration and are called the powerhouse of the cell because they produce ATP.
5. So, infoldings of cristae increase the surface area to help in cellular respiration and increase the production of ATP.
6. Cellular respiration is the important process to extract ATP from the food consume and breakdown of food into digestible form and release of carbon dioxide
7. The electron transport chain takes place inside the inner membrane to help in the production of ATP.
8. These folds contain a greater amount of electron transport chain enzymes and ATP synthase enzymes.
9. Cristae's change in shape and size helps in determining the respiratory capacities of cells.