Eddy Egan February 8, 2007

Tuliszewski Period ½
Cellular Respiration
Cellular Respiration is a process that releases energy by breaking down glucose in

the presence of oxygen. In chemical form cellular respiration is noted as 602 + C6H12O6

 6C02 + 6H2O + Energy or Oxygen + Glucose  Carbon Dioxide + Water + Energy

This definition looks as if cellular respiration is a fairly simple task. In that case you are a

wrong. The very important, complex process of cellular respiration is a big process which

involves many other smaller processes. These smaller processes are glycolysis, the Krebs

cycle, and the electron transport chain. Each one of these processes has a special job to

do; this can be compared to different jobs that people have to do in a factory, since a

mitochondrion is known as the powerhouse or energy factory of a cell and many of these

processes happen in or around it. Therefore, cellular respiration may seem simple but

many parts of this process depend on many other parts to successfully release the energy

from glucose.

The first step in cellular respiration is Glycolysis. The Merriam-Webster

definition states that glycolysis is “the enzymatic breakdown of a carbohydrate (as

glucose) by way of phosphate derivatives with the production of pyruvic or lactic acid

and energy stored in high-energy phosphate bonds of ATP.” In simpler terms glycolysis

breaks glucose is half, thus producing two molecules of pyruvic acid. In this process we

see the phosphorylation of hexose soon it is followed by the splitting of hexose

biphosphate to two triose phosphates and then the phosphorylation and oxidation of two

triose phosphates. You may be asking what phosphorylation is, so; it is the addition of a

phosphate. This process uses two ATP molecules to make a total of four ATP molecules,

with a net gain of two ATP molecules. When this process creates the two ATP molecules
it removes four high-energy electrons which are then passed to an electron carrier called

NAD+. From there the electrons that it holds are sent to other pathways in the cell as

energy. Glycolysis’ energy production is very poor, but due how fast the process is it

takes a very short time to produce thousands of molecules. A disadvantage to the large

generation of ATP molecules results in the filling of NAD+ molecules with electrons. This

forces NAD+ to not transport electrons and eventually stop the processes of glycolysis

and ATP production. But, what happens when there is no oxygen present? Glycolysis may

then lead to different pathways, which are anaerobic therefore not requiring air; these

pathways are known as Alcoholic fermentation and Lactic Acid Fermentation. In

alcoholic fermentation pyruvic acid and NADH produce alcohol, CO2 and NAD+. In

words this means that the waste products are carbon dioxide and ethanol. Such events

happen in yeasts and some other microorganisms where when oxygen runs out they

instead give off carbon dioxide; the bubbles you see in bread. The other form of

fermentation is lactic acid fermentation. This process can regenerate NAD+, thus making

the process of glycolysis continue. Since pyruvic acid plus NADH yields lactic acid and

NAD+, this means that there is a build of lactic acid. To release this it requires a large

supply of oxygen, which is why after intense exercising your body needs lots of air and

heavy breathing helps relieve burning muscles filled with lactic acid. After making the

pyruvic acid it is then sent to the Krebs cycle, the next stage in cellular respiration and

electrons are carried to the electron transport chain.

As discussed the pyruvic acid made in glycolysis is sent to the Krebs cycle, the

second stage in the process of cellular respiration. This process takes the pyruvate and

breaks it down into carbon dioxide and ethanol in a series of anaerobic respiration
reactions that extract the energy from it. Starting this process is the entering of pyruvic

acid into the mitochondrion. One carbon atom from the pyruvic acid molecule is taken

and turned into carbon dioxide. Next the remaining two carbon atoms join the compound

known as coenzyme A to form acetyl-CoA, which is located in the matrix of the

mitochondrion and serves for aerobic respiration. Acetyl-CoA adds the two-carbon acetyl

group to a four-carbon oxaloacetate molecule; this produces a six-carbon citrate molecule

known as citric acid. Continuing the cycle, the citrate molecule then breaks down into a

4-carbon molecule, this releases more carbon dioxide and electrons are then transferred to

energy carriers. When the cycle reaches the breakdown into the four-carbon molecule it is

then reused in the cycle and is added to another acetyl-CoA group. Throughout this

process ADP is converted into ATP and then accepted by electron carriers known as

NAD+ and FAD. When the electron carriers accept a pair of high-energy electrons they

are turned into NADH and FADH2. The carbon dioxide that was released during this

process is then carried to your lungs where it is diffused so it can be expelled from the

mouth and/or nose.

Finally, the last step of cellular respiration is the electron transport chain. It is

located at the inner membrane of the mitochondrion and takes and uses all of the high-

energy electrons from the Krebs cycle to convert ADP into ATP. These high-energy

electrons that we have been talking about are carried by NADH and FADH2 along the

electron transport chain. When they give off their high-energy electrons they are then

turned back into NAD+ and FAD. The high-energy electrons are carried along proteins

and are passed from one to the next. At the end of the electron transport chain an enzyme

is waiting to combine the electrons with hydrogen ions and oxygen which end up forming
water. This makes oxygen serve as the final electron acceptor of the electron transport

chain. All of the wastes of cellular respiration such as low-energy electrons and hydrogen

ions are taken away by oxygen therefore making it an important part in this process.

When two electrons are passed off by the electron carriers and sent down the electron

transport chain, they are used to transport hydrogen ions across the membrane. After

many hydrogen ions are transported into the intermembrane space of the mitochondria it

soon makes it positively charged. What I believe to be interesting is how ATP synthases,

which look like protein channels, are able to conduct enough energy by a hydrogen atom

passing though it, to attach a phosphate molecule to ADP. This relates to a dam or water

turbine and its ability to harness power and use it as energy toward something else. When

the phosphate group joins ADP it then turns into a high-energy ATP. This process

therefore generates a vast supply of ATP.

As you can see, cellular respiration involves many processes that involve many

steps and is a very large intricate process. Glycolysis, in short, breaks a glucose molecule

in half, producing pyruvic acid that is passed on to the next process. The Krebs cycle, the

second step, has the job of breaking down the pyruvic acid and using the electrons from it

for other purposes. Then finally, the electron transport chain uses the high-energy

electrons from the Krebs cycle and converts ADP into ATP. You can also see that in

aerobic processes, which are in the presence of oxygen, produce far greater amounts of

ATP than anaerobic processes such as glycolysis. With the presence of oxygen, cellular

respiration is able to produce thirty-four more molecules of ATP per glucose. You can

compare that to the two that glycolysis produces in the absence of oxygen. At last, the

process produces waste and these include water and carbon dioxide. Thirty-six ATP
molecules per glucose molecule represents approximately thirty-eight percent of the total

energy that glucose. In other words, cellular respiration is actually a very efficient

process. The last sixty-four percent of energy from glucose is released as heat; this

explains why our bodies heat up during exercise. So, in conclusion this complex process

of making energy for our bodies to use is called cellular respiration and without it we

probably wouldn’t be able to be the striving species that we are today or be living at all.

Cellular respiration keeps me going throughout the day, not just physically but also

mentally as I learn about it and have a greater understanding about how it affects us.