What is the overall purpose of cellular respiration in both autotrophs and heterotrophs?

The overall purpose of cellular respiration is energy production. In both autotrophs, such as plants, and heterotrophs, like animals, cellular respiration is the process through which cells convert glucose and oxygen into energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This energy is essential for various cellular processes and functions, allowing organisms to grow, reproduce, and perform biological functions necessary for survival.

In autotrophs, glucose is produced during photosynthesis, and then cellular respiration utilizes this glucose to generate ATP, especially in conditions where light is not available. In heterotrophs, which cannot synthesize their food, glucose is obtained from consuming other organisms. Regardless of the source, the ability to convert this glucose into usable energy is fundamental to the life processes of both types of organisms.

The other options relate to important biological processes but do not encapsulate the primary role of cellular respiration. Protein synthesis involves creating proteins from amino acids using instructional information from DNA but is not the main objective of cellular respiration. Photosynthesis is a process exclusive to autotrophs that converts solar energy into chemical energy stored in glucose. Cellular growth pertains to the increase in cell number or size but again is not the focus of cellular respiration itself, as this