How Many ATPs are Produced in Aerobic Respiration

Introduction

All living things, including plants, animals, and people, engage in respiration as one of the crucial chemical processes to release the energy needed for life processes. When oxygen is present or absent, the respiratory process takes place. For instance, humans breathe in oxygen gas and breathe out carbon dioxide gas during the respiration process. Numerous other living things, such as plants and animals, use the respiration process to get the energy they need for their metabolic processes.

Aerobic Respiration

The process of cellular respiration that occurs in the presence of oxygen gas to create energy from food is known as aerobic respiration. The majority of plants, animals, birds, humans, and other mammals all engage in this type of respiration regularly. As byproducts of this process, water and carbon dioxide are created.

Food glucose is converted into energy during aerobic respiration, a biological process that takes place in the presence of oxygen. The following is the chemical formula for aerobic respiration:

Glucose (C6H12O6) + Oxygen 6(O2) → Carbon-dioxide 6(CO2) + Water 6 (H2O) + Energy (ATP)

The chemical equation above states that energy is released by splitting glucose molecules with the aid of oxygen gas. As the by-products or final products of the chemical reaction, energy, water molecules, and carbon dioxide gas are released.

The breakdown of the glucose molecule releases 2900 kJ of energy, which is then used to create ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, molecules that the body uses for a variety of functions.

ATP Production in Aerobic Respiration

• One glucose molecule can theoretically be fully oxidised in aerobic respiration to produce 38 ATP molecules.

• Since all of the routes are active simultaneously, ATP and carbohydrates are used as needed, and enzyme activity is regulated by a variety of factors, this is only an assumption.

• The process by which organisms convert glucose into a form that the cell can use as energy is known as cell respiration.

• In living things, ATP serves as the main source of energy (adenosine triphosphate).

All multicellular organisms, including animals, plants, and other living things, engage in an aerobic respiration process.

The stomata, which are located in the epidermis of a plant's leaves and stem, allow oxygen gas to enter plant cells during the respiration process in plants. All green plants produce their food and release energy through the process.

Types of Aerobes

There are 3 different types of Aerobes:

• Obligate aerobes that strictly need oxygen to grow.

• Aerobes that grow by chance can do so both with and without oxygen.

• Microaerophiles are organisms that thrive in the presence of oxygen but cannot endure high oxygen concentrations in the atmosphere.

Steps Involved in Aerobic Respiration

There are four stages to the entire process of aerobic respiration:

1. Glycolysis

The first stage of aerobic respiration is glycolysis, which happens in the cell's cytosol. The process of glycolysis splits and separates the glucose molecules into two ATP and two NADH molecules, which are then utilised in the process of aerobic respiration.

2. Formation of Acetyl Coenzyme A

The production of acetyl coenzyme A is the second stage of aerobic respiration. In this process, the mitochondria oxidise pyruvate to produce a 2-carbon acetyl group. Coenzyme A and the newly formed 2-carbon acetyl group combine to form acetyl coenzyme A.

3. Citric Acid Cycle

The Krebs cycle, also known as the citric acid cycle, is the third stage of aerobic respiration. Oxaloacetate and acetyl-coenzyme A combine during this stage of aerobic respiration to create citric acid. Through a series of reactions, the citric acid cycle generates two molecules of carbon dioxide, one molecule of ATP, and reduced forms of NADH and FADH.

4. Electron Transport Chain

The process of aerobic respiration ends with this. By transferring the electrons from NADH and FADH, a significant amount of ATP molecules are produced during this phase. 34 ATP molecules are produced from one glucose molecule.

Important Facts about Aerobic Respiration

• Utilising oxygen to break down glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids to produce ATP is known as aerobic respiration.

• Acetate is then produced from pyruvate in the mitochondrial matrix.

• The Krebs cycle occurs twice per glucose molecule.

• On the inner mitochondrial matrix, the protein complexes are organised so that electrons can move from one reacting molecule to the next. The electron transport chain is this.

• ADP and inorganic phosphate are used by ATP synthase to create ATP.

The Key Requirements for Aerobic Respiration to occur include:

For aerobic cellular respiration, the general equation is: During cellular respiration, the reaction between glucose and oxygen produces ATP. As byproducts, water and carbon dioxide are released. The Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, and glycolysis—an anaerobic process—are the three phases of aerobic cellular respiration.

Formation of ATP in the Mitochondria

The gradual nature of aerobic cellular respiration prevents energy loss as heat.

• Outside of the mitochondria, glycolysis is the breakdown of glucose into two pyruvate molecules, which produces two ATP molecules.

• The matrix of the mitochondria, which is filled with fluid, houses the enzymes for the Krebs cycle. To enter the citric acid cycle, pyruvate diffuses into mitochondria where it is converted to acetyl CoA.

• The citric acid cycle results in the production of 36 ATP molecules. In total, 38 molecules of ATP are produced during aerobic respiration, and 2 of those molecules are formed outside of the mitochondria.

Temperature and Aerobic Respiration

In living tissues, low temperatures slow down cellular respiration. The kinetic energy needed to carry out chemical reactions like cellular respiration decreases as the temperature rises. Therefore, cellular respiration is typically increased in response to warmer temperatures.