CellularRespirationActivity9

1.Thesummaryformulaforcellularrespirationis
C6H12O66O26CO26H2OEnergy

a.Whereiseachofthereactants
usedintheoverallprocess?

b.Whereiseachoftheproductsproducedinthe
overallprocess?

C6H12O66O26CO26H2OEnergy
Glycolysis

Oxidative
phosphorylation

Pyruvate
Oxidative
AcetylCoA
phosphorylation
andKrebscycle

ATP/glucose
Glycolysis(2),
Krebs(2GTP),
oxidative
phosphorylation
(upto34)

2.Incellularrespiration,theoxidationofglucoseiscarriedoutinacontrolledseriesof
reactions.Ateachsteporreactioninthesequence,asmallamountofthetotalenergyis
released.Someofthisenergyislostasheat.Therestisconvertedtootherformsthatcan
beusedbythecelltodriveorfuelcoupledendergonicreactionsortomakeATP.
a.Whatis/aretheoverall
function(s)ofglycolysis?

b.Whatis/aretheoverall
function(s)oftheKrebs
cycle?

c.Whatis/aretheoverall
function(s)ofoxidative
phosphorylation?

Oxidationofglucoseto
2pyruvate.Generates2ATP
and2NADHperglucose.

Oxidationof
pyruvate/acetylCoAto
carbondioxide.Generates
2GTP,6NADH,and
2FADH2perglucose.

OxidationofNADHand
FADH2toH2O(andNAD
orFAD).GeneratesHion
concentrationgradientand
thereforeATP.

3.Arethecompounds
listedhereusedor
producedin:

Glycolysis?

Glucose

Used

TheKrebscycle?

O2

Oxidative
phosphorylation?

Used

CO2

Produced

H2O

s
Produced

ATP

Produced

Produced(GTP)

Produced

ADPPi

Produced&used

Used

Used

NADH

Produced

Produced

Used

NAD

Used

Used

Produced

4.ThecellssupplyofADP,Pi,andNADisfinite(limited).Whathappenstocellular
respirationwhenallofthecellsNADhasbeenconvertedtoNADH?
IfNADisunavailable,thecellisunabletoconductanyprocessesthatinvolvethe
conversionofNADtoNADH.BecausebothglycolysisandtheKrebscycleproduce
NADH,bothoftheseprocessesshutdownwhenthereisnoavailable.NAD.
5.IftheKrebscycledoesnotrequireoxygen,whydoescellularrespirationstopafter
glycolysiswhennooxygenispresent?
Whennooxygenispresent,oxidativephosphorylationcannotoccur.Asaresult,the
NADHproducedinglycolysisandtheKrebscyclecannotbeoxidizedtoNAD.When
noNADisavailable,pyruvatecannotbeconvertedtotheacetylCoAthatisrequiredfor
theKrebscycle.
6.Manyorganismscanwithstandperiodsofoxygendebt(anaerobicconditions).Yeast
undergoingoxygendebtconvertspyruvicacidtoethanolandcarbondioxide.Animals
undergoingoxygendebtconvertpyruvicacidtolacticacid.Pyruvicacidisfairly
nontoxicinevenhighconcentrations.Bothethanolandlacticacidaretoxicineven
moderateconcentrations.Explainwhythisconversionoccursinorganisms.
Asnotedinquestion4,whennoNADisavailable,evenglycolysisstops.NoATPwill
beproducedandthecell(ororganism)willdie.Theconversionofpyruvicacid
(pyruvate)tolacticacid(orethanol)requirestheinputofNADHandgeneratesNAD.
Thisprocess,calledfermentation,allowsthecelltocontinuegettingatleast2ATPper
glucose.
7.Howefficientisfermentation?Howefficientiscellularrespiration?Rememberthat
efficiencyistheamountofusefulenergy(asATP)gainedduringtheprocessdividedby
thetotalamountofenergyavailableinglucose.Use686kcalasthetotalenergyavailable
in1molofglucoseand8kcalastheenergyavailablein1molofATP.
Efficiencyoffermentation
8kcal/moleofATPx2ATP16kcal
16kcal/2molesofATP2.3%
686kcal/moleofglucose

Efficiencyofaerobicrespiration
8kcal/moleofATPx38ATP(maximum)
304kcal
304kcal/38molesofATP44.3%
686kcal/moleofglucose

8.a.WhycantcellsstorelargequantitiesofATP?(Hint:Considerboththechemical
stabilityofthemoleculeandthecellsosmoticpotential.)
ATPishighlyreactiveatnormalbodytemperaturesandthereforedifficultforcellsto
storeforanyperiodoftime.(Inthelab,ATPisusuallystoredatverylowtemperatures,
forexample,at20C.)Inaddition,ATPisarelativelysmallmolecule.Asaresult,if
cellscouldstorehighconcentrationsofATP,theirosmoticpotentialwouldchange.This
isalsowhycellsdontstoreglucose.Thecellswouldbecomehypertonictothefluid
aroundthemandcouldpickupenoughwatertoburst.
b.GiventhatcellscantstoreATPforlongperiodsoftime,howdotheystoreenergy?
InsteadofstoringATP,cellstendtostoreenergyasfats,oils,orstarches.Thesearevery
largemoleculesand,asaresult,donothaveasgreataneffectonosmoticpotential.
9.Tomakea5Msolutionofhydrochloricacid,weadd400mlof12.5Mhydrochloric
acidto600mlofdistilledwater.Beforeweaddtheacid,however,weplacetheflask
containingthedistilledwaterintothesinkbecausethissolutioncanheatupsorapidly
thattheflaskbreaks.Howisthisreactionsimilartowhathappensinchemiosmosis?How
isitdifferent?
Similarities

Differences

Inbothprocesses,asweaddtheacidtothe
water,wearegeneratingadifferencein
concentrationbetweenthetwo,oraHion
gradient.AstheHionsflowdownthis
gradient(thatis,mixwiththewater),they
releaseenergyintheformofheat.

ChemiosmosisalsosetsupaHion
concentrationgradient;however,the
energyreleaseiscontrolledastheHions
passthroughtheATPsynthasemolecules
andATPisgenerated.Someenergyislost
asheat,butmuchofitiscapturedinthe
chemicalbondsofATP.

10.Ifittakes1,000gofglucosetogrow10gofananaerobicbacterium,howmany
gramsofglucosewouldittaketogrow10gofthatsamebacteriumifitwasrespiring
aerobically?Estimateyouranswer.Forexample,ifittakesXamountofglucosetogrow
10gofanaerobicbacteria,whatfactorwouldyouhavetomultiplyordivideXbyto
grow10gofthesamebacteriaaerobically?Explainhowyouarrivedatyouranswer.
Aerobicrespirationcanproduceamaximumof38ATPperglucosemolecule.Anaerobic
respirationcanproduce2ATPperglucosemolecule.Asaresult,aerobicrespirationis
about19timesmoreefficient.Therefore,youwouldneed19timeslessglucoseif
respiringaerobically:1,000gofglucosedividedby19equalsapproximately50gof
glucoserequiredifrespirationisaerobic.

11.Mitochondriaisolatedfromlivercellscanbeusedtostudytherateofelectron
transportinresponsetoavarietyofchemicals.Therateofelectrontransportismeasured
astherateofdisappearanceofO2fromthesolutionusinganoxygensensitiveelectrode.
Howcanwejustifyusingthedisappearanceofoxygenfromthesolutionasameasureof
electrontransport?
Usethebalancedequationforaerobicrespiration:
C6H12O66O26CO26H2OEnergy
Ifthefinalenergyproducedis38ATP,thenforevery6oxygenmoleculesconsumed(or
6molesofoxygenconsumed),weexpect38moleculesofATP(ormolesofATP)tobe
produced.
12.Humansoxidizeglucoseinthepresenceofoxygen.Foreachmoleofglucose
oxidized,about686kcalofenergyisreleased.Thisistruewhetherthemoleofglucoseis
oxidizedinhumancellsorburnedintheair.Acalorieistheamountofenergyrequiredto
raisethetemperatureof1gofwaterby1C;686kcal686,000cal.Theaveragehuman
requiresabout2,000kcalofenergyperday,whichisequivalenttoabout3molof
glucoseperday.Giventhis,whydonthumansspontaneouslycombust?
Asnotedinquestion9,duringcellularrespiration,theenergyfromtheoxidationof
glucoseisnotreleasedallatonce(asitisinburning).Instead,eachofthereactionsin
glycolysis,theKrebscycle,andelectrontransportreleasesasmallamountoftheenergy
storedinthemolecules.MuchofthisenergyiscapturedasNADH,FADH2,ATP,or
GTP.Someislostasheat;however,theheatlossalsooccursateachstepandnotallat
once.