Cellular Respiration

Dec. 2022
 Cellular respiration
Cellular respiration and gas exchange, which one is a mechanical
process?
 Cellular respiration
Cellular respiration
 Also known as‘ oxidative metabolism‘
 Energy- for cell to perform their activities
 The energy input necessary for ATP formation can come from:
 Sunlight- in photosynthesis
 Inorganic compounds - in respiration
 Break down of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins
Respiration
 Is the chemical process of energy release from organic
compounds such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins
 These food substances are broken down gradually by a series of
enzyme controlled reactions
 Each releases a small amount of energy
 This is made available to living cells in the form of ATP
 Cellular respiration
ATP
 Is used to transfer freely available energy within the cell from place to
place
 This energy is provided for:
 Protein synthesis and muscle contraction
 Pumping ions against a concentration gradient
 Can be used in any reactions in the cell which require energy
Cellular respiration
 Occurs in cytoplasm and mitochondria of living cells
 Liberate chemical energy when organic molecules are oxidized.
 Is the set of the metabolic reactions and processes that take place in
organisms' cells to convert biochemical energy from nutrients into
adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and then release waste products.
 Is a series of metabolic pathways releasing energy from a foodstuff
 Cellular respiration
 The reactions involved in respiration are catabolic reactions that
involve the oxidation of one molecule and the reduction of
another.
 Is one of the key ways a cell gains useful energy to fuel cellular
reformations.
 This yields energy in the form of ATP
 Cellular respiration- aerobic and anaerobic(fermentation)
 Aerobic respiration occurs in three metabolic stages:
 Glycolysis
 Krebs cycle (Citric Acid Cycle)
 Electron transport chain
 Anaerobic respiration:
 Alcoholic fermentation and
 Lactic acid fermentation
 Celluar…
A. Glycolysis
 Represents a series of reactions in which a 6C glucose is
broken down into two molecules of triose phosphate (3C) then
pyruvate (3C) with the production of reduced NADH and ATP
 It is anaerobic process
1. Phosphorylation of glucose into 6C compound
 Glycolysis begins with the phosphorylation of a glucose
 This step requires energy from ATP
 This initial phosphorylation is extremely important because it
raises the energy level of the glucose molecules (activation of
the glucose)
 Glycolysis…
2. Splitting up of the 6C compound into two triose phosphate
 The 6C compound splits up to give two molecules of triose
phosphate which are later converted to pyruvate (pyruvic acid)
 In this conversion, two ATP and two hydrogen atoms per triose
phosphate are released (total 4 ATP and 4 H+ released per glucose
molecule since 2 triose phosphate are produced per glucose)
 The hydrogen atom released from the glycolysis would be:
Carried by NAD+ to form NADH and
Transported into mitochondria to carry out oxidative
phosphorylation to yield ATP
NAD and FAD
 Are coenzymes that carrier electrons and hydrogen stripped
from molecules
Glycolysis…
 Glycolysis…
Biological significance of glycolysis
 Glycolysis neither require oxygen nor mitochondrial enzymes, it
occurs in cytoplasm anaerobically
 It can provide a small amount of energy to maintain the cellular
activities in emergency, i.e. yeast live anaerobically or muscle
cells after prolonged vigorous activities
Glycolysis…
 Glycolysis…
1. Glucose, a six carbon-sugar, is split into two three carbon
sugars.
2. These smaller sugars are oxidized and rearranged to form two
molecules of pyruvate.
 Each of the ten steps in glycolysis is catalyzed by a specific
enzyme(slide 13-14).
 These steps can be divided into two phases:
 An energy investment phase and
 An energy payoff phase.
 Glycolysis…
1. In the energy investment phase
 ATP provides activation energy by phosphorylating
glucose
 This requires 2 ATP per glucose.
2. In the energy payoff phase
 ATP is produced by substrate-level phosphorylation and
 NAD+ is reduced to NADH
 4 ATP (2 net) and 2 NADH are produced per glucose.
Glycolysis…
Glycolysis…
Glycolysis…
 Glycolysis…
 The net yield from glycolysis is 2 ATP and 2 NADH per glucose.
 No CO2 is produced during glycolysis
 Glycolysis occurs whether O2 is present or not
 If O2 is present:
 Pyruvate moves to the Krebs cycle and
 The energy stored in NADH can be converted to ATP by:
The electron transport system and
Oxidative phosphorylation.
 Krebs cycle
B. Krebs Cycle
Occurs in the matrix
Reactants = 2 acetyl CoA, 2 ADP, 2 P, 2 FAD
Products = 2 ATP, 6 NADH, 2 FADH2, 4 CO2
 For every acetyl-CoA that enters the Krebs cycle, the cycle
turns once.
For every glucose molecule that starts cell respiration, 2
pyruvates are formed, forming 2 acetyl CoAs, thus turning the
Krebs cycle twice
 FAD – flavin adenine dinucleotide
 Co-enzyme necessary for the reaction as well as
 An electron donor in the electron transport chain
 During Krebs cycle both NAD & FAD are reduced to NADH &
FADH, respectively
 If both of these molecules are being reduced, are other molecules
 Krebs…
 More than three quarters of the original energy in glucose is still
present in two molecules of pyruvate
 If oxygen is present:
Pyruvate:
 Enters the mitochondrion where enzymes of the Krebs cycle
complete the oxidation of the organic fuel to carbon dioxide
 It provides H atoms which ultimately yield the major part of the
energy derived from the oxidation of a glucose molecules through
the electron transport chain
 It is a valuable source of intermediates which are used to
manufacture other substances e.g. fatty acid, amino acids etc.
Krebs…
 Krebs…
1.As pyruvate enters the mitochondrion, a multienzyme complex
modifies pyruvate to acetyl CoA which enters the Krebs cycle
in the matrix.
2. A carboxyl group is removed as CO2
3. A pair of electrons is transferred from the remaining two carbon
fragment to NAD+ to form NADH
 Krebs…
 The Krebs cycle is named after Hans Krebs who was largely
responsible for elucidating its pathways in the 1930s.
4. Acetyl CoA combines with oxaloacetate to form citrate
 Ultimately, the oxaloacetate is recycled and the acetate is broken
down to CO2
 Each cycle produces 1 ATP, 3 NADH, and 1 FADH by substrate-
level phosphorylation, per acetyl CoA.
Krebs…
 Krebs…
• The conversion of pyruvate and the Krebs cycle produces large
quantities of electron carriers
 Electron transport chain
C. The Electron Transport Chain
 Only 4 of 38 ATP ultimately produced by respiration of glucose
are derived from substrate-level phosphorylation
 The vast majority of the ATP comes from the energy in the
electrons carried by NADH and FADH2
 The energy in these electrons is used in the electron transport
system to power ATP synthesis
 Thousands of copies of the electron transport chain are found in
the extensive surface of the cristae, the inner membrane of the
mitochondrion.
 Most components of the chain are proteins that are bound with
prosthetic groups that can alternate between reduced and oxidized
states as they accept and donate electrons.
 Electrons drop in free energy as they pass down the electron
 ETC…
1.Electrons carried by NADH are transferred to the first molecule in
the electron transport chain, flavoprotein
2.The electrons continue along the chain that includes several
cytochrome proteins and one lipid carrier
3.The electrons carried by FADH2:
 Have lower free energy and
 Are added to a later point in the chain
ETC…
 ETC…
 Electrons from NADH or FADH2 ultimately pass to oxygen
 The electron transport chain:
 Generates no ATP directly
 Its function is to break the large free energy drop from
food to oxygen into a series of smaller steps that release
energy in manageable amounts
 The movement of electrons along the electron transport chain
does contribute to chemiosmosis and ATP synthesis
 ETC…
 A protein complex, ATP synthase,
in the cristae actually makes
ATP from ADP and Pi
 ATP uses the energy of an existing proton
gradient to power ATP synthesis
 This proton gradient develops between
the intermembrane space and
the matrix
 Proton gradient- produced by the
movement of electrons
 ETC…
 The proton gradient is produced by the movement of electrons
along the electron transport chain.
 Several chain molecules can use the exergonic flow of electrons
to pump H+ from the matrix to the intermembrane space
 This concentration of H+ is the proton-motive force
ETC…
 ETC…
 The ATP synthase molecules are the only place that will allow H+
to diffuse back to the matrix
 This exergonic flow of H+ is used by the enzyme to generate ATP
 This coupling of the redox reactions of the electron transport
chain to ATP synthesis is called chemiosmosis.
 ETC…
Chemiosmosis
 Is an energy-coupling mechanism that uses energy stored in the
form of a H+ gradient across a membrane to drive cellular work
 In the mitochondrion, chemiosmosis generates ATP
 Chemiosmosis in chloroplasts also generates ATP, but light drives
the electron flow down an electron transport chain and H+ gradient
formation.
 Prokaryotes:
 Generate H+ gradients across their plasma membrane.
 Can use this proton-motive force not only to:
 Generate ATP but
 Also to pump nutrients and waste products across the
membrane and to rotate their flagella.
ETC…
 ETC…
Substrate level phosphorylation
 In the substrate-level phosphorylation, the phosphate group is
directly transferred from the substrate to ADP to produce ATP,
 Substrate-level phosphorylation is a metabolism reaction that
results in the production of ATP or GTP by the transfer of
a phosphate group from a substrate directly to ADP or GDP
 Occurs in the cytoplasm and krebs cycle
Oxidative level phosphorylation
 Whereas in oxidative phosphorylation, the energy required for ATP
synthesis comes from the oxidation of NADH and FADH2 in the
electron transport chain.
 Occurs in electron transport chain
 ETC…
 Each NADH contributes enough energy to generate a maximum
of 3 ATP (rounding up)
 Each FADH2 can be used to generate about 2 ATP
 Assuming the most energy-efficient shuttle of NADH from
glycolysis, a maximum yield of 34 ATP is produced by oxidative
phosphorylation
 This plus the 4 ATP from substrate-level phosphorylation gives
a bottom line of 38 ATP
ETC…
 ETC…
Electron transport chain
 The hydrogen atoms produced in glycolysis and Krebs cycle are
carried by NAD or FAD as NADH2 and FADH2, respectively, they
are at a high energy level
 In the course of the electron transport chain / oxidative
phosphorylation, hydrogen or electrons are passed ‘down hill’
to the oxygen (electron acceptor) to form water and the energy
released in the process is used to form ATP from ADP
 Electron transport chain contains different carriers, but at the end
the hydrogen will combine with O2 to form water
 ETC…
 As the hydrogen atoms / electrons are moved from one carrier to
another, it is a oxidative process; since it also involves the
synthesis of ATP, the whole process of electron transport is
known as “oxidative phosphorylation”
 One molecule of NADH2 passes the electron transport chain
yielding 3 ATP
 While one molecule of FADH2 only yield 2 ATP
 The number of ATP produced in the cellular aerobic respiration
from one molecule of glucose is calculated as below :
ETC…
Summary
 Fermentation

Fermentation
 Anaerobic metabolic pathways (occur in the absence of oxygen) are
used by prokaryotes and protists in anaerobic habitats
 Aerobic respiration and fermentation both begin with glycolysis,
which converts one molecule of glucose into two molecules of
pyruvate
 After glycolysis, the two pathways diverge:
 Fermentation is completed in the cytoplasm, yielding 2 ATP per
glucose molecule
 Aerobic respiration is completed in mitochondria, yielding 36
ATP per glucose molecule
 Fermentation

 Fermentation happens in the cells’ cytoplasm (not in the

mitochondria) and helps generate only 2 ATP molecules per glucose
molecule (much less effective in generating energy than cellular
respiration).
 Fermentation uses the pyruvate molecules made by glycolysis
from glucose.
 The formula is:

 In the making of wine and beer (alcohol), yeast cells generate ATP
by the fermentation of the sugars in fruit and grain (in the
absence of oxygen).
 Yeast can also release carbon dioxide in this process, which is
what causes bread to rise.
 Fermantation...
 In animals, the lack of oxygen will drive muscle cells to carry on
lactate fermentation which creates lactic acid causing sore and
cramping muscles.
 This happens when you get so much exercise, say on a very long hike
or run, that your body runs low on oxygen for cellular respiration.
Fermentation
 Anaerobic respiration uses an electron transport chain with a final
electron acceptor other than O2, for example sulfate
 Produces much less energy than aerobic respiration
 Only source of ATP is substrate-level phosphorylation
 If there is no oxygen, the pyruvate convert to:
 Alcohol in yeast and plant cells, and
 Lactic acid in animal cells (e.g. muscle cells in human)
 The lactic acid will return to the liver via bloodstream for the
resynthesis of carbohydrates or oxidation to carbon dioxide and
water
 Fermentation…
Two common types of fermentation
1. Alcohol fermentation
 Alcohol fermentation by yeast is used in brewing, wine making, and
baking
 Pyruvate is converted to ethanol in two steps:
 NADH produced in glycolysis is oxidized to NAD+
 Glucose is not completely digested
 Fermentation…
Alcoholic fermentation
 Carried out by yeast and some plant cells
 Only 2 ATP is gained in the glycolysis
 The pyruvic acid is reduced by the NADH and produce alcohol
(ethanol) and carbon dioxide which both are toxic to the cells
 It occurrs only when the cell is in shortage of O2
 Fermentation…
2. Lactic acid fermentation
 Lactic acid fermentation by some fungi and bacteria is used to
make cheese and yogurt
 Human muscle cells use lactic acid fermentation to generate ATP
when O2 is scarce
 Pyruvate is converted to lactate in one step
 NADH produced during glycolysis is oxidized to NAD+
 Fermentation…
Lactic acid fermentation
 Carried out by muscle cells in the animals in the absence of
oxygen during vigorous activity
 Only 2 ATP is gained in glycolysis
 Lactic acid is produced and accumulated in the muscle cells
 This is what happens in mammalian cells when they have an
“oxygen debt”
 Later it will diffuses into the blood and is carried to the liver
where it is oxidised into carbon dioxide and water or rebuilt of
glucose or glycogen in the presence of oxygen
 Fermentation…
Oxygen debt
 To satisfy the energy demands of the exercise aerobically, 3 dm 3 of
oxygen per minute must be supplied (see graph below).
 This is not achieved until 6 minutes after exercise began.
 So, the oxygen debt (the amount of oxygen that was needed, but
not supplied from outside the body by breathing, region A) is
built up.
 The debt (region B in the graph) is repaid by continued rapid and
deep breathing when the period of exercise ends.
 The extra oxygen then absorbed by the blood corresponds to the
oxygen debt and is used to oxidize the lactic acid produced in
anaerobic respiration to CO2 and H2O or converted the lactic acid
to glucose /glycogen in liver.
Fermentation…
 Fermentation…
Importance of anaerobic respiration to everyday life
1. Alcoholic Fermentation
 Alcohol produced in yeast can be used to produce beer (substrate used is
partially germinated barley grain) and wine (substrate used is grapes)
 Production of carbon dioxide in yeast is used in bread making, to make
dough rise
 In sewage treatment plant, anaerobes can be used to decompose the
wastes, the ethanol produced can be collected to make gasohol (a kind
of fuel can be used in car) or used directly as fuel
2. Lactic acid Fermentation
 Lactic acid bacteria in milk break down lactose anaerobically
 This can be used to produce dairy products
 Yogurt = substrate : whole milk
 Cheese = substrate : solid part of milk, known as curd
 Butter = substrate : cream of fresh milk
 Fermentation…
• Anaerobic respiration is not common in higher living organisms
because :
1. The small amount of energy is not enough to meet the demand of
the organisms, this is especially true in active animals
2. The by-products from anaerobic respiration are toxic to the
organisms if accumulated to high concentration, i.e. alcohol or
lactic acid
Fermentation…
Fermentation…
 Difference…
Aerobic respiration Anaerobic
respiration
Glycolysis Yes Yes
Krebs cycle Yes No
ETC Yes No
ATP production 38 per glucose 2 per glucose
NADH production Yes Yes
FADH2 production Yes No
Terminal electron O2 Pyruvate or
acceptor acetaldehydrate