Figure 2.

Model of different energy capture and dissipation processes. Both photosynthesis and respiration, as well as the metabolism coupled with these activities, constitute dissipative mechanisms. Photosynthesis and respiration are further associated with other photochemical and biochemical energy dissipation pathways, including the production of RONSS. During the abiotic evolutionary process and later during the early biotic evolution, the production of RONSS went from being only a mechanism for the dissipation of free energy, with the consequent generation of entropy, also constituting a mechanism for regulation and transfer of information on redox and energy status between the different components of the system.