Cellular Respiration and Fermentation Lecture Notes

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to cellular respiration and fermentation, including processes, outputs, and regulatory mechanisms.

Glycolysis

The first step of cellular respiration where glucose is broken down into two pyruvate molecules.

Pyruvate Processing

The second step of cellular respiration where each pyruvate is oxidized to form acetyl CoA.

Citric Acid Cycle

The third step of cellular respiration that oxidizes acetyl CoA to produce NADH, FADH2, and ATP, while releasing CO2.

Electron Transport Chain

The final step of cellular respiration where electrons from NADH and FADH2 are transferred to oxygen, forming water and creating a proton gradient to synthesize ATP.

Oxidative Phosphorylation

The process of ATP production that occurs in the inner membrane of mitochondria, driven by the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis.

Fermentation

A metabolic pathway that regenerates NAD+ from NADH without oxygen, enabling glycolysis to continue producing ATP.

Feedback Inhibition

A regulatory mechanism in which high levels of ATP inhibit key enzymes in glycolysis.

Glycolysis Inputs

Inputs include glucose, 2 ATP, and NAD+.

Glycolysis Outputs

Outputs include 2 pyruvate, 4 ATP (net gain of 2 ATP), and 2 NADH.

Maximum ATP Yield from Glucose

The maximum yield of ATP per molecule of glucose through cellular respiration is 29 ATP molecules.

Lactic Acid Fermentation

A type of fermentation that occurs in human muscle cells when oxygen is scarce, converting pyruvate to lactate.

Alcohol Fermentation

A type of fermentation performed by yeast, converting pyruvate into ethanol and CO2.

Acetyl CoA

A crucial metabolic intermediate derived from pyruvate that enters the citric acid cycle.

NAD+

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, a coenzyme that acts as an electron carrier in cellular respiration.

ATP Synthase

An enzyme that synthesizes ATP during oxidative phosphorylation by utilizing the proton gradient established by electron transport.

Chemiosmosis

The process through which ATP is produced using the energy from the proton gradient across the mitochondrial membrane.