The pathway that converts glucose to acetyl-CoA is often referred to as an “aerobic oxidation pathway.”
(b) Thinking back to Chapter 20, where does molecular oxygen enter the picture?

Question

The pathway that converts glucose to acetyl-CoA is often referred to as an “aerobic oxidation pathway.”

(b) Thinking back to Chapter 20, where does molecular oxygen enter the picture?

Accepted Answer

All right. Hello everyone. So this question says that glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation are commonly referred to as the aerobic oxidation pathway is oxygen present in this pathway. Explain. So here we have four different entry choices labeled A through D, options A and C say no and options B and D say yes. And all four of them have different justifications. Now, based on the term aerobic oxidation pathway, it's very easy to assume that the answer is going to be yes, because oxygen is specifically mentioned in the term oxidation. That's why this phrase is so misleading. So lets talk about it. First, let's talk about what glycolysis is meant to achieve glycolysis as the name implies is the breakdown of sugar. It's the breakdown of glucose. And during this glucose is converted to two equivalents of pyruvate. This is because glucose contains six carbons and pyro contains three carbons. So you go from 16 carbon molecule to 23 carbon products. And in process this conversion is going to release some A TP and some N A DH as a result. Now, glycolysis is performed in the cytoplasm of the cell and does not require oxygen it can happen in conditions where there is no oxygen or whether it's because it doesn't require it directly. So now, pyruvate after it's been created, undergoes oxidation oops. And so pyruvate oxidation starts from pub like the name implies and it's ultimately going to convert it into a pseudo coet. So after this conversion, we also get some more N A DH and even carbon dioxide as a product. Now, acetyl coa will then go on to become an important factor in multiple different metabolic pathways. But pyruvate oxidation doesn't directly require oxygen either. So why then do we refer to these as the aerobic oxidation pathway? Now, the reason why they're referred to as such is because of the NAH that's produced from both reactions because N A DH goes on to be a part of the electron transport chain or etc for short. But before I talk about the electron transfer chain for just a moment, I just want to point out here that pyruvate oxidation takes place in the mitochondria because I did not mention that earlier. Now, the electron transport chain also takes place in the mitochondria and the electron transport chain is in fact, 02 dependent. This is because electrons are ultimately transported to molecular oxygen at the very end of the electron transport chain, which allows for the synthesis of a large amount of A TP. So essentially our answer here is going to be option c in the multiple choice and it reads as follows is oxygen present in this pathway. The answer is no wall glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation do not directly use oxygen. They are part of a larger metabolic pathway that uses oxygen as the final electron acceptor to produce a large amount of A TP and regenerate N ad positive. And so with that being said, thank you so very much for watching. And I hope you found this helpful.

The pathway that converts glucose to acetyl-CoA is often referred to as an “aerobic oxidation pathway.”
(b) Thinking back to Chapter 20, where does molecular oxygen enter the picture?

Verified video answer for a similar problem:

Key Concepts

Aerobic Oxidation

Acetyl-CoA

Role of Molecular Oxygen

The pathway that converts glucose to acetyl-CoA is often referred to as an “aerobic oxidation pathway.”(b) Thinking back to Chapter 20, where does molecular oxygen enter the picture?

Verified video answer for a similar problem:

Key Concepts

Aerobic Oxidation

Acetyl-CoA

Role of Molecular Oxygen

The pathway that converts glucose to acetyl-CoA is often referred to as an “aerobic oxidation pathway.”
(b) Thinking back to Chapter 20, where does molecular oxygen enter the picture?