Chapter 9 Bio Open Ended

Cellular Respiration

1. The textbook number of ATP generated during cellular respiration is typically 38. In actuality, it is
less. Account for the lower number of ATP that are typically generated as a result of the complete
oxidation of a molecule of glucose in the presence of oxygen.
2. The generation of a proton gradient on one side of the cristae during electron transport leading to
chemiosmosis. Explain how a proton gradient is made and how chemiosmosis is achieved.
3. The actual production of ATP during oxidation phosphorylation including the structure and function of
ATP synthase and the production of the water molecule. Use a diagram and label it. Talk about the ATP
synthase and how ATP is actually made.

Answers
1. ATP is adenosine triphosphate. It is composed of an adenine nucleotide and three phosphates that
release free energy when the phosphate bonds are hydrolyzed. The energy is used to drive endergonic
reactions in cells. The reason why the actual number of ATP produced during cellular respiration is less
than 38 is because phosphorylation and the redox reactions are not directly coupled with one another.
Therefore, the ratio of number of NADH molecules to number of ATP molecules is not a whole number.
Instead, it is a somewhere between 2.5 to 3.3 ATP per NADH molecule. For the FADH2, it produces
somewhere between 1.5 to 2 ATP. Secondly, the different type of shuttle used to transport electrons from
the cytosol into the mitochondrion affect the number of ATP produced. If electrons are passed through
the membrane to NAD+, then about 3 ATP will be produced. If the electrons are passed through to FAD,
then about 2 ATP will be produced. Finally, the proton motive force used to power the yield of ATP is
sometimes used to power other reactions. The proton motive force is the potential energy stored in the
form of an electrochemical gradient, generated by the pumping of hydrogen ions across a membrane
during chemiosmosis.
2. When NADH or FADH2 arrive at the electron transport chain, they give up their electrons to the
electron carrier proteins embedded in the cristae. The electrons were extracted from food during
glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. As a result, they get oxidized. Because the electrons are donated to
the electron carrier proteins, protons get pumped across the membrane to the intermembrane space. As
more and more electrons are pumped across the membrane, more protons are gathering on the other side.
Chemiosmosis is an energy coupling mechanism that uses energy stored in the form of a hydrogen ion
gradient across a membrane to drive cellular work. In this case, it is the synthesis of ATP. With the large
number of protons gathered in the intermembrane space, a chemiosmotic gradient is formed.
-cytochrome c, ubiquinone,
-from one electron carrier to another
-FAD has less potential energy
-oxygen as the final electron acceptor
3. Protons from the chemiosmotic gradient need to flow back into the matrix to attempt equilibrium (that
is never reached). The ATP synthase is the only channel that the protons can use to get back into the cell