Question

Hexokinase is the first enzyme in the famous biochemical pathway called glycolysis.  There is an imaginary strain of E. coli (strain XYZ) that must be grown in minimal media and maintained in an exponential phase of growth.  During exponential growth, rapid cell division occurs and requires the production of large amounts of ATP.  Once it reaches the stationary phase where cell division equals cell death, the end-product of glycolysis (pyruvate) builds up in the cytoplasm resulting in cell death due to osmotic imbalance.  Propose a theory to explain this observation.