Biology
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Cellular Respiration – a process that takes place inside the cells where energy is released
by the breakdown of glucose molecules. It is crucial to a cell’s survival because if it
cannot liberate energy from fuels, it will not have enough energy to drive its normal
functions. The process can be conveniently divided into two categories based on the
usage of oxygen, namely aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
Aerobic respiration
-refers to the process where glucose in the presence of oxygen is completely oxidized
and decomposed in cells to produce carbon dioxide and water, release energy, and
synthesize large amounts of ATP.
The process of cellular respiration that uses oxygen to produce energy from food.
Common in most of the plants and animals, including humans, birds and other
mammals.
It has different stages namely, glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and electron transport
chain..
The process can be explained with this equation:
Anaerobic Respiration
-Sometimes there is not enough oxygen around for some organisms to respire, but they
still need the energy to survive. Due to lack of oxygen, they carry out respiration in the
absence of oxygen to produce the energy they require.
Does not use oxygen to produce energy.
Usually occurs in some bacteria and archaea which thrives in low oxygen
environments.
Used by multi-cellular organisms, like us, as a temporary response to oxygen-less
conditions such as during heavy or intensive exercise such as running, sprinting,
cycling and eight lifting.
It has two main stages namely Glycolysis and Fermentation— has two types which
is Alcoholic fermentation and Lactic Acid Fermentation.
Aerobic Respiration Anaerobic Respiration
Reactants Glucose
Location Cytoplasm and Cytoplasm
Mitochondria
Energy Yield
Oxygen Requirement
Stages
End Products
Process of Aerobic Respiration
1. Glycolysis
It is the primary step of aerobic respiration and takes place within the cytosol of
the cell. During the glycolysis process, the glucose molecules are splitting and
separated into two ATP and two NADH molecules, which are later used in the
process of aerobic respiration.
2. Link Reaction
The second step in aerobic respiration is the formation of acetyl coenzyme A. In
this process, pyruvate is oxidized in the mitochondria and 2-carbon acetyl group is
produced. The newly produced 2-carbon acetyl group binds with coenzyme A,
producing acetyl coenzyme A.
3. Citric Acid Cycle
The third step in aerobic respiration is the citric acid cycle, which is also called the
Krebs cycle. In this stage of Aerobic respiration, the oxaloacetate combines with the
acetyl-coenzyme A and produces citric acid. The citric acid cycle undergoes a series of
reactions and produces 2 molecules of carbon dioxide, 1 molecule of ATP, and
reduced forms of NADH and FADH.
4. Electron Transport Chain
This is the last step in aerobic respiration. In this phase, the large amounts of ATP
molecules are produced by transferring the electrons from NADH and FADH. A
single molecule of glucose creates a total of 34 ATP molecules.
Process of Anaerobic Respiration
1. Glycolysis
The first step of anaerobic respiration is glycolysis, in which a glucose
molecule is broken down into two pyruvate molecules, releasing electrons in
the process and producing two ATP molecules, the energy of the cells.
2. Fermentation
Since there’s no oxygen available, the pyruvate can’t move into the Krebs
Cycle or the Electron Transport Chain like it does in aerobic respiration.
Instead, the cell needs another way to regenerate NAD⁺, which is crucial for
glycolysis to continue. This is where fermentation comes in.
After glycolysis, the next step is fermentation, which serves to recycle NAD⁺
so that glycolysis can continue