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Cellular Respiration Lab Report

Decent Essays

Cellular respiration is a metabolic process undergone by all living organisms in order to release adequate amounts of energy essential to life. This series of coupled reaction occurs through breaking down glucose, or other food molecules in the presence of oxygen, releasing the energy contained within the chemical bonds of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Every step in cellular respiration occurs with the use of enzymes. The simplified equation shown above demonstrates one glucose molecule, in the presence of oxygen produces water, carbon dioxide gas, simultaneously yielding a net of 38 ATP molecules. However, this equation exhibits the three stages of respiration; glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain. Both the Krebs cycle …show more content…

Additionally, polysaccharides are broken down into monosaccharides for cellular respiration. Sucrose undergoes hydrolysis through the invertase enzyme, resulting in fructose and sucrose. Starch is broken hydrolyzed through amylase, producing maltose, which requires maltase for its hydrolysis into glucose. It should be noted most yeast species do not produce amylase in high enough concentrations, potentially inhibiting this metabolic pathway. During glycolysis, the oxidation of one glucose molecule generates 2 pyruvate molecules. This occurs as glucose is phosphorylated, a reaction catalyzed by hexokinase, during the hydrolysis of one ATP molecule. Glucose 6-phosphate is produced, and is rearranged, converting it into fructose - 6 - phosphate. It is at this stage where the metabolic pathway converting fructose into pyruvate begins . Fructose-6-phosphate binds to hexokinase, or phosphofructokinase to be phosphorylated by another ATP molecule, resulting in fructose- 1,6 bisphosphate. The aldolase enzyme functions to cleave the fructose- 1,6 bisphosphate into glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP), and dihydroxyacetone phosphate

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