Question

How many ATP molecules are generated during the complete oxidative degradation of each of the following metabolites to CO2 and H20?

A) Acetyl CoA = __________
B) Pyruvate = ____________
C) Glucose = ____________
D) Glycerol (hint: enters glycolysis through DHAP) = _____________
E) Aspartic acid (hint: enters citric acid cycle through oxaloacetate) = _____________

Answer 1

ATP production varies for each metabolite, with Acetyl CoA producing 12 ATP, Pyruvate 15 ATP, Glucose 38 ATP, Glycerol 19 ATP after conversion to DHAP, and Aspartic acid 12 ATP after entering the citric acid cycle as oxaloacetate.

Step-by-step explanation:

The amount of ATP produced during the complete oxidative degradation of different metabolites is a fundamental concept of cellular metabolism and bioenergetics. Here's the breakdown of ATP production for each of the metabolites listed:

• Acetyl CoA produces 12 ATP, as it enters directly into the citric acid cycle, bypassing glycolysis and the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl CoA, and generates 3 NADH, 1 FADH2, and 1 GTP (which is considered energetically equivalent to ATP) per cycle turn.
• Pyruvate, being the end product of glycolysis, goes on to generate 15 ATP: it produces 1 NADH during its conversion to acetyl CoA (equating to 3 ATP) and then 12 ATP from the subsequent citric acid cycle.
• Glucose goes through glycolysis, pyruvate to acetyl CoA conversion, and two turns of the citric acid cycle for a total of 38 ATP (this includes 2 ATP from glycolysis, 2 ATP (or GTP) from the citric acid cycle, and the ATP equivalents generated from the electron transport chain).
• The glycerol moiety of fats enters the glycolysis pathway as DHAP which then produces 19 ATP upon full oxidation.
• Aspartic acid, upon being converted to oxaloacetate and entering the citric acid cycle, produces 12 ATP.

Note that the precise number of ATP molecules can vary slightly between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells due to different efficiencies of the NADH transport mechanism across the mitochondrial membrane.

Answer 2

A) Acetyl CoA produces 10 molecules of ATP. The acetyl CoA goes through one round of the TCA cycle and generates three molecules of NADH (3 * 2.5 = 7.5), one molecule of FADH2 (1*1.5 = 1.5) and one molecule of ATP.

B) Pyruvate produces 12.5 molecules of ATP. Pyruvate generate four molecules of NADH (4*2.5 = 10), one molecule of FADH2 (1*1.5 = 1.5) and one molecule of ATP.

C) Glucose produces 32 molecules of ATP. Glucose produces ten NADH (10*2.5 = 25), two FADH2 (2*1.5 = 3) and four molecules of ATP.

D) Glycerol produces 17 molecules of ATP. Glycerol produces five NADH, one FADH2 and three molecules of ATP.

E) Oxaloacetate produces 20 molecules of ATP. Oxaloacetate produces six NADH, two FADH2 and two molecules of ATP.