BIO 181 Lecture Notes - Anaerobic Respiration, Electrochemical Gradient, Cellular Respiration
Document Summary
All eukaryotes & many prokaryotes use oxygen as the final electron acceptor of. Some prokaryotes, especially those in oxygen poor environments use other electron acceptors in the process of anaerobic respiration. Oxygen is the most effective electron acceptor because it is highly electronegative. There is a large difference between the potential energy of nadh and o2 electrons which allows the generation of a large proton-motive force for atp production. Cells that do not use oxygen as an electron acceptor cannot generate such a large potential energy difference. Thus, they make less atp than cells that use aerobic respiration. Occurs without oxygen that allows atp regeneration to occur. A metabolic pathway that regenerates nad+ from stockpiles of nadh, allows glycolysis to continue producing atp in the absence of oxygen. Occurs when pyruvate or a molecule derived from pyruvate accepts electrons form. Ends up with less atp being produced. Transfer of electrons oxidizes nadh to nad+
