Cellular Respiration - Final electron receptor molecule

[alexandria]

Homework Statement

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The Attempt at a Solution

Here is my attempted answer, can someone please tell me if I did this correctly, thank you :)
22.
Final electron receptor molecule involved in aerobic respiration:
* the electron transport chain relies on oxygen to keep electrons moving through the ETC. Oxygen is the final electron acceptor in aerobic respiration. Oxygen must be present to accept the electrons at the end of the Electron Transport Chain. The Oxygen we breathe is essential for the production of ATP molecules through the electron transport chain. Oxygen is electron greedy, in other words, it has a high electronegativity, so the electrons at the end of the electron transport chain are snatched by the oxygen molecules. When this occurs, the protons (or hydrogen atoms) attach to the oxygen molecules to form water.

Final electron receptor molecules involved in anaerobic Respiration:
* anaerobic respiration is a type of cellular respiration that occurs when oxygen is not present. Animal muscle cells and yeast cells have adapted different methods to handle this 'shortage' in oxygen, which involve the processes of glycolysis and fermentation. in this process, Glucose molecules are broken down into energy, carbon dioxide, and alcohol or lactic acid. Anaerobic respiration uses final electron receptor molecules other than oxygen. During Lactic acid fermentation in muscle cells, the final electron receptor molecule is pyruvate. During alcohol fermentation in yeast cells, the final electron receptor molecule is acetaldehyde.

Lactic acid fermentation in muscle cells:
When Humans do heavy exercise, they use up a lot of oxygen. During heavy excercise, our bodies use up oxygen faster than they can break down glucose, so the bodies impermanently shift to producing lactic acid. Due to the absence of oxygen, the hydrogen ions (consisting of 1 proton and two electrons) that were removed from glucose originally during glycolysis are now attached back onto the pyruvate molecules, producing lactic acid, which is toxic and causes muscle cramps.

Alcohol fermentation in yeast cells:
Pyruvate is decarboxylated, meaning CO2 is removed from the pyruvate molecules. This results in the emergence of a new compound called acetaldehyde. Due to the absence of oxygen, NADH dumps its extra electrons onto this compound 'acetaldehyde', producing ethanol (alcohol).

 

[Nino MMP]

This process of alcohol fermentation is used in the production of wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages. The ethanol produced is toxic to most cells, so yeast cells have adapted special mechanisms to tolerate this toxicity.