Alternative Aerobic Pathways Flashcards
1
Q
Evolutionary Significance of Glycolysis
A
- Ancient prokaryotes used glycolysis long before there was oxygen in the atmosphere
- Early prokaryotes likely used only glycolysis to generate ATP
- Glycolysis is a very ancient process
2
Q
What is the function of catabolic pathways?
A
Funnel electrons from many kinds of organic molecules into cellular respiration
3
Q
How are proteins digested?
A
- Must be digested to amino acids via deamination
- Amino groups can feed glycolysis, acetyl-Co-A or the Kreb’s Cycle
4
Q
How are fats digested?
A
- Digested to glycerol which is used in glycolysis
- Digested to fatty acids which is used in generating acetyl-Co-A
5
Q
How are fatty acids broken down?
A
- By beta oxidation
- They yield acetyl-Co-A
6
Q
Oxidation of fats vs carbs
A
An oxidized gram of fat produces more than twice as much ATP as an oxidized gram of carbohydrate
7
Q
What happens when ATP over accumulates?
A
- Process called: Feedback Inhibition
- ATP becomes an allosteric inhibitor, this stops glycolysis by binding to phosphofructokinase
8
Q
What happens when ATP concentration drops?
A
Respiration speeds up
9
Q
Gluconeogenesis
A
- Process where glucose is formed using reverse processes to make glucose from scratch
10
Q
Note about ammonia
A
- Highly toxic
- Liver attaches CO2 groups to make “urea” which is urinated out of the body (in mammals)
11
Q
B-Oxidation
A
- Breaks down fatty acids into C’s, H’s and O’s to make acetyl
- It alters carbon groups
12
Q
Deamination
A
Removal of an amino group from a molecule
