How would you explain the role of oxygen in aerobic respiration?
1 Answer
Jan 30, 2016
O2 is the final electron acceptor (from outside the cell, so it's an exogenous acceptor).
Explanation:
Remember that aerobic respiration is a three-stage process for glucose...
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Glycolysis: Initial oxidation and degradation of glucose to pyruvate (produces some ATP, as well as NADH, FADH2, or both)
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Tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle) or Krebs or Citric acid cycle: Oxidation and degradation of pyruvate
to CO2 (produces some ATP or GTP, as well as NADH, and FADH2) -
ETC: NADH and FADH2 formed by glycolysis and TCA cycle are oxidized by an ETC, using O2 as the terminal electron acceptor (produces LOTS of ATP)