Question

Glycolysis:

a) is not performed in plants, which get their energy solely through photosynthesis.
b) completely oxidizes glucose to carbon dioxide.
c) is performed solely on the glucose ingested by the organism.
d) is also referred to as the Krebs cycle.
e) occurs in all cells."

Answer 1

Glycolysis occurs in all cells as an anaerobic process in the cytoplasm, converting glucose into pyruvate and not completely oxidizing it to carbon dioxide.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer to the student's question is 'e' which states that glycolysis occurs in all cells. Glycolysis is an ancient, universal metabolic process that converts glucose, a six-carbon sugar molecule, into two three-carbon pyruvate molecules. This process happens in the cytoplasm of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, both in the presence and absence of oxygen, thus being an anaerobic process.

Glycolysis is not the same as the Krebs cycle, which occurs in the mitochondria and is part of the aerobic respiration. It is also essential to note that glycolysis does not completely oxidize glucose to carbon dioxide; this occurs later in the cellular respiration process during the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation.