Biolo1100
Chapter 7
How Cells Harvest Energy from Food
Metabolism
involves the
transformation
of
potential
energy into
kinetic
energy in living things, and comprises
photosynthesis
and cellular
respiration
.
Cellular
respiration
is composed of two stages: glycolysis occurs in the
cytoplasm
while the Krebs cycle occurs in
mitochondria
.
In
glycolysis
,
glucose
is broken down into two three-carbon
pyruvate
molecules, yielding a net of
two
molecules of ATP per glucose.
In
aerobic
conditions (with oxygen), pyruvate is further broken down to make more ATP.
The pyruvates are passed into the
mitochondrion
where they are converted into
acetyl-coA
, which enters the
Krebs
cycle.
In the
Krebs
cycle, each acetyl-coA yields
one
molecule of ATP, and several molecules of
NADH
and FADH
2
.
The energy stored in
NADH
and FADH
2
is harvested by the
electron
transport
chain
(ETC) to make
ATP
.
In
anaerobic
conditions, glycolysis is
followed
by
fermentation
, which regenerates the electron receptor NAD
+
, and allows
glycolysis
to continue generating ATP.
Other macromolecules such as
proteins
and
fats
can also enter cellular respiration via different
pathways
.
Review exercise: