How Many Types of Respiration

How Many Types of Respiration

Edited By Team Careers360 | Updated on May 16, 2023 12:07 PM IST

Introduction

There are two main types of respiration, anaerobic and aerobic. Respiration is a biochemical process in which a compound is oxidised to release the energy which is used by the organism to perform their daily activities. The metabolic processes of an organism are cellular respiration, which serves as an important way to produce ATP. The compound subjected to biological oxidation is called respiratory substrate. These could be organic acids, proteins, or carbohydrates are the most preferred substrate for the biological oxidation, other substrates are used under certain specific conditions.

During the oxidation the energy is released in the form of ATP which acts as the energy currency of the cell.

There are Two Types of Respiration:

  • Anaerobic Respiration

  • Aerobic Respiration

Aerobic Respiration

  • In the presence of oxygen gas, the process of cellular respiration occurs which convert food into energy. Most plants, animals, birds, humans, and other mammals use this type of respiration frequently.

  • 2900 kJ of energy are released during the breakdown of the glucose molecule.

  • This energy is then used to produce ATP, or Adenosine Triphosphate, molecules, which the body uses for a number of different processes.

  • The process of aerobic respiration occurs in all multicellular organisms, including animals, plants, and other living things.

  • The final products of this process are water and Carbon dioxide.

\begin{equation}

\mathrm{C}_6 \mathrm{H}_{12} \mathrm{O}_6+6 \mathrm{O}_2 \longrightarrow 6 \mathrm{CO}_2+6 \mathrm{H}_2 \mathrm{O}+\text { ATP }

\end{equation}

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The Different Types of Aerobic Respiration

There three types of Aerobic Cellular Respiration are

  • Glycolysis

  • The Krebs cycle

  • Oxidative phosphorylation.

Glycolysis

  • The method by which glucose is metabolised to produce energy is known as glycolysis. It generates water, ATP, NADH, and two pyruvate molecules.

  • It doesn't require oxygen because it happens in a cell's cytoplasm. In both aerobic and anaerobic organisms, it occurs.

The Krebs cycle

  • The tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle), also known as the Krebs or citric acid cycle, is the main source of energy for cells and a crucial step in aerobic respiration.

  • The cycle transforms the chemical energy of acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl CoA) into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide reducing force (NADH).

Oxidative Phosphorylation

In the process of oxidative phosphorylation, which is also known as the electron transport chain and ATP synthase, energy is captured and used to produce ATP inside of the mitochondria.

Anaerobic respiration

  • In the absence of oxygen, a cell undergoes anaerobic respiration to break down sugars and produce energy

  • The term "anaerobic respiration" refers to the use of electron acceptors besides atomic oxygen (O2). The procedure still employs a respiratory electron transport chain even though oxygen is not the final electron acceptor.

  • Because there is not enough oxygen in their environment, they use anaerobic respiration, or breathing without oxygen, to generate the energy they require..

  • Lower plants and microorganisms typically engage in anaerobic respiration. Food's glucose is broken down into alcohol and carbon dioxide while also producing energy in the absence of oxygen.

\begin{equation}

\text { Glucose } \rightarrow \text { Alcohol + Carbon dioxide + Energy }

\end{equation}

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Different Types of Anaerobic Respiration

There are two main types of anaerobic respiration:

  1. Alcoholic fermentation

  2. Lactic acid fermentation.

Alcoholic fermentation

Alcoholic fermentation is a biochemical process in which yeasts convert sugars to ethanol, carbon dioxide, and other metabolic by-products that affect the foods' chemical composition.

Lactic acid fermentation

A metabolic process known as lactic acid fermentation which converts glucose or other six-carbon sugars (as well as disaccharides of six-carbon sugars, such as sucrose or lactose) into cellular energy and the metabolite lactate, which is lactic acid in solution.

Conclusion

The use of oxygen during the cellular respiration process distinguishes aerobic respiration from anaerobic respiration. As the name suggests, aerobic respiration is the process of using oxygen to provide the energy needed by cells. A byproduct of this process is ATP, the cellular energy currency, as well as carbon dioxide. Similar to aerobic respiration, anaerobic respiration occurs when there isn't any oxygen present. Lactic acid and ATP are consequently produced during this process as byproducts.

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