Explain glycolysis in detail.
Answers
Glycolysis is the metabolic process that serves as the foundation for both aerobic and anaerobic cellular respiration. In glycolysis, glucose is converted into pyruvate. Glucose is a six- memebered ring molecule found in the blood and is usually a result of the breakdown of carbohydrates into sugars.
Glycolysis is the primary stage of cellular respiration that happens when the form of sugar molecules breaks to release energy. Glucose is the most common form of sugar, from which the term glycolysis originates. The metabolic pathway helps in breaking and converting one molecule of glucose- C6H12O6 into two molecules of pyruvate – CH3COCOO− + H+. The total amount of energy, released in the glycolysis process is used to produce energy molecules called ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) along with reduced NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide).
In most living organisms, the glycolytic enzymes are produced in the form of the cytosol in cells.
This metabolic pathway was discovered by three German biochemists- Gustav Embden, Otto Meyerhof, and Jakub Karol Parnas in an early 19th century and known by EMP pathway (Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas), named after its discoverers
