Final answer:
Making the inner mitochondrial membrane permeable to protons (option c) would enable electron transport in the presence of bongkrekic acid, which inhibits ATP/ADP exchange. This permeability maintains the necessary proton gradient for the electron transport chain to function and allows energy to be released without ATP synthesis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student asked which intervention would allow electron transport to occur in mitochondria treated with bongkrekic acid, an inhibitor of the ATP/ADP transport protein. Among the given options, making the inner membrane permeable to protons would enable the electron transport chain (ETC) to continue functioning, despite the inhibition caused by bongkrekic acid. This is because proton permeability would bypass the need for ATP/ADP exchange, maintaining the necessary proton gradient for the ETC to operate and pumping protons back into the matrix, relieving the proton gradient without the need for ATP synthase.
Uncouplers, like dinitrophenol (DNP), function similarly by making the inner mitochondrial membrane permeable to protons, which dissipates the proton gradient and thus allows for electron transport without ATP synthesis. This can contribute to energy being released as heat instead of being captured as ATP. Bongkrekic acid prevents the normal exchange of ADP and ATP across the mitochondrial membrane, which would usually couple electron transport to ATP synthesis. Making the inner membrane permeable to protons would allow for electron transport to proceed by maintaining the membrane potential without ADP/ATP exchange.