Final answer:
Arsenate poisoning in glycolysis option 2) results in fewer ATP molecules generated per glucose molecule because arsenate can cause the premature hydrolysis of an unstable intermediate, preventing ATP generation in later steps. This leads to a net decrease in ATP production per glucose molecule, but the generation of NADH is not affected.
Step-by-step explanation:
The effect of arsenate poisoning in glycolysis leads to option 2) It results in fewer ATP molecules generated per glucose molecule, but NADH generation is not directly affected. This is because arsenate can substitute for phosphate in the reaction catalyzed by glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, leading to the formation of 1-arseno-3-phosphoglycerate instead of the normal product, 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate.
However, the arsenate-containing compound is unstable and hydrolyzes, which results in the failure to generate ATP through substrate-level phosphorylation in the subsequent steps of glycolysis. Therefore, the net amount of ATP produced per glucose molecule decreases since these reactions that usually generate ATP will fail to do so in the presence of arsenate.
NADH production is unaffected by arsenate because the reduction of NAD+ to NADH occurs earlier in the glycolytic pathway, during the conversion of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate. Therefore, while the production of ATP is compromised, the generation of NADH remains intact.
As glycolysis is a critical pathway for energy production, particularly in cells that rely exclusively on glycolysis for ATP, such as mature mammalian red blood cells, the inhibition of ATP synthesis can be detrimental and potentially lethal to these cells.