Question

Discuss the fate of six molecules of Carbon as the Oxidation of Glucose molecules takes

place during the Aerobic Respiration?​

Answer 1

Glycolysis, the initial stage of glucose metabolism, takes place in the cytosol and does not involve molecular O2. It produces a small amount of ATP and the three-carbon compound pyruvate. In aerobic cells, pyruvate formed in glycolysis is transported into the mitochondria, where it is oxidized by O2 to CO2. Via chemiosmotic coupling, the oxidation of pyruvate in the mitochondria generates the bulk of the ATP produced during the conversion of glucose to CO2. In this section, we discuss the biochemical pathways that oxidize glucose and fatty acids to CO2 and H2O; the fate of the released electrons is described in the next section.