THE CELLULAR RESPIRATION 1

The Cellular Respiration

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 THE CELLULAR RESPIRATION 2

An overview of the Cellular Respiration

Cellular respiration, also called oxidative metabolism, refers to a process by which living

organisms convert glucose into useful energy that is useful in cells. Therefore, the respiration

process in cellular organisms involves several processes and metabolic reactions, which convert

absorbed glucose into useful energy in body cells. The process involves four broad steps,

including glycolysis, Citric Acid Cycle, Oxidative and Pyruvate oxidation. Phosphorylation

(Stauffer et al., 2018). The general formula of cellular respiration is as follows below;

Glucose + oxygen –> carbon dioxide + water + energy

And the chemical equation is as written below;

C6H12O6 + 6O2 –> 6CO2 + 6H2O + 38 ATP

The essay will highlight the necessary steps in cellular respiration using a table and give a

detailed explanation of the four basic sub-steps involved in cellular organisms' respiration

process.

Part One: table describing cellular respiration

Table 1: Description of an overview of the four sub-steps of cellular respiration. 

Process S ATP
S
ub- contribution Cellular
ub-step
Description step by sub-step location of
Reacta
Produc sub-step
nts
ts
Glycolys Glycolysis refers G 2 ATP is Cytosol

is to glucose and other lucose, ATP, used to break

sugars breakdown under water, 2 down glucose

 THE CELLULAR RESPIRATION 3

into carbon
the influence of various
dioxide and
enzymes, which leads to NADH
water.
the formation of pyruvic and 2 , and
ATP
acid. At the same time, ATP pyruvat
converts
the process releases e
carbon sugars
energy in the form of
into pyruvate.
adenosine triphosphate.

Pyruvat ATP is Mitocho

e Oxidation required ndrial matrix.

2
during the

removal of the
This is a reaction Pyruvat
2 carboxyl group
where pyruvate from e
acetyl from pyruvate.
glycolysis process is molecul
Co A, ATP is
oxidized in the es, 2
CO2, used in
mitochondrion to release carbons,
and 2 oxidation to
+
the extra energy that it NAD ,
NADH transfer
contains. and
electrons from
acetyl
NAD+ to
CoA
NADH.

Citric The cycle 2 A ATP Cytosol

acid cycle involves a series of Acetyl TP, facilitates the in prokaryotic

 THE CELLULAR RESPIRATION 4

chemical reactions that reduction of cells.

occur in all organic NAD+ to The

organisms to produce NADH mitochondrial

groups,
stored energy by NADH matrix in
FAD,
oxidation of acetyl CoA , and eukaryotic
ADP,
from body nutrients, FADH2 cells.
and PI
such as proteins,

carbohydrates, and fats

into ATP and carbon

dioxide.
Oxidativ 3 ATP Mitocho
This involves a P
e CO2, helps in the ndrial matrix.
reaction wherein oxygen yruvic
phosphorylatio 4NAD movement of
combines two hydrogen acid,
n H2, hydrogen ion
ions to form water; an 4NAD+,
FADH2 in the complex
ion gradient occurs, FAD+,
, and
which initiates the and
ATP.
chemiosmosis process. 2H2O

Part Two: Detailed Description of sub-steps in Cellular Respiration

Sub-step 1: Description of the Glycolysis

THE CELLULAR RESPIRATION 5

Glycolysis refers to glucose and other sugars breakdown under the influence of various

enzymes, which leads to the formation of pyruvic acid. At the same time, the process releases

energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate. Therefore, glycolysis is a metabolic pathway with

a series of chain reactions, which helps in the extraction of energy from glucose. Notably, the

sub-step requires power to perform cellular metabolism. Glucose molecule undergoes a chemical

conversion reaction to produce energy in the form of ATP and NADH, as shown in the chemical

reaction below (Kawai et al., 2019).

Glucose + 2ATP + 2NAD+ + 4ADP + 2Pi → 2 Pyruvate + 4ATP + 2NADH + 2H+

Consequently, glucose is oxidized to form carbon dioxide and water (C6 H12O6+ 6O2 =

6CO2 + 6H2O). Glycolysis is elaborated in 2 main phases which include; Energy requiring phase

and energy-releasing phase. This step's main role is the production of two pyruvate molecules,

two NADH molecules, and two ATP molecules.

Energy requiring phase

The glucose molecule is rearranged, and two groups of phosphate get attached. The

fructose gets unstable and separates into half forming two phosphates having three-carbon

sugars. An enzyme regulation called phosphofructokinase catalyzes the formation of unstable

fructose. The phosphates used in the process come from ATP; thus, two molecules of ATP gets

used up.

Energy releasing phase

The stage converts the three-carbon sugars into a three-carbon molecule known as pyruvate.

Through the reaction, two ATP and one unit of NADH are produced. The reaction happens

twice, forming four ATP and two NADH at the end.

THE CELLULAR RESPIRATION 6

Sub-step 2: Description of the Pyruvate Oxidation

Pyruvate from glycolysis process is oxidized in the mitochondrion to release the extra

energy that it contains. The pyruvate must enter into the innermost part of the mitochondrion,

which is the matrix before the chain reactions begin. The pyruvate is then converted into a two-

carbon compound, which associates with acetyl CoA enzyme to release carbon dioxide and

NADH. This is a result of electron loss from NAD+ during oxidation, which gets transferred to

form NADH (Gray et al., 2017). The chemical equation of the process is shown below.

2Pyruvate CoA 2NADH + Acetyl-CoA + 2CO2

The two-carbon molecule is oxidized to an acetyl group that is then transferred into a

coenzyme A resulting in Acetyl CoA. An enzyme, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, facilitates

the above steps. The enzyme complex is made of three interconnected enzymes, which have over

60 sub-units. The complex is essential in regulating the amount of Acetyl CoA that enters the

citric acid cycle. Acetyl CoA acts as a fuel in the next stage of the citric acid cycle. The step

plays a crucial role in the generation of NAD+, which produces NADH.

Sub-step 3: Description of the Citric acid cycle

Individual can also refer this to Krebs cycle, while others would call it the tricarboxylic

acid cycle. The cycle involves a series of chemical reactions that occur in all organic organisms

to produce stored energy by oxidation of acetyl CoA from body nutrients, such as proteins,

carbohydrates, and fats into ATP and carbon dioxide. The cycle also helps to produce other

precursors of some amino acids and NADH reducing agents, which are used in different

metabolic reactions. Acetate is consumed in the cycle inform of Acetyl-CoA and water, which

reduces NAD+ to NADH. Carbon dioxide is also given out as a waste product (Canovas III &

Shock, 2020).
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2 Acetyl groups + 2 FAD + 2 ADP + 2PI = 4 CO2 + 6 NADH + 6 H++ 2 FADH2 + 2ATP

However, the result in the cycle depends on the oxidation of nutrients to generate usable

chemical energy. The crucial role of this stage is the finishing of sugar breakdown and the

production of ATP.

Sub-step 4: Description of the Oxidative phosphorylation

After the final step in the electron transport chain, the Complex IV, where oxygen

combines with two hydrogen ions to form water, there occurs an ion gradient, which initiates the

chemiosmosis process. The step uses FADH2 and NADH from the Krebs cycle after they are

deposited back to the electron transport chain to form NAD+ and FAD. The electrons move down

the chain, pumping out protons of the matrix to create a gradient. Hydrogen movement from the

matrix space to the mitochondrial membrane is facilitated by ATP synthase. The ATP synthase

complex plays an integral role, as it acts as a turbine run that is run by the flow of hydrogen ions.

The movement of hydrogen ion in the complex makes the shaft of ATP synthase to rotate.

Consequently, the rotation causes the other parts of the complex to move, thus encouraging a

phosphate molecule addition to the ADP, which results in the formation of ATP (Zheng et al.,

2016). Oxygen accepts electrons generated, taking up the protons to produce water. When the

particles decrease oxygen molecules to water, higher levels of ATP liberation occur.

Pyruvic acid + 4NAD++FAD++ 2H2O 3CO2+ 4NADH2+FADH2+ ATP

The process uses oxygen from the atmosphere, which is a necessity for the process to

take place. This deviates from the glycolic cycle in that does not necessarily oxygen through

fermentation. Above all, oxidative phosphorylation is the essential source of ATP in aerobic

organisms. The critical role of this stage is that, out of the total ATP produced, the most
THE CELLULAR RESPIRATION 8

considerable portion comes from this stage. The electron donor involved is either an organic or

inorganic compound.

References

Canovas III, P. A., & Shock, E. L. (2020). Energetics of the Citric Acid Cycle in the Deep

Biosphere. Carbon in Earth's Interior, 303-327.

Gray, L. R., Rouault, A. A., Oonthonpan, L., Rauckhorst, A. J., Sebag, J. A., & Taylor, E. B.

(2017). Measuring Mitochondrial Pyruvate Oxidation. In Techniques to Investigate

Mitochondrial Function in Neurons (pp. 321-338). Humana Press, New York, NY.

Kawai, Y., Mercier, R., Mickiewicz, K., Serafini, A., de Carvalho, L. P. S., & Errington, J.

(2019). Cell wall inhibition in L-forms or via β-lactam antibiotics induces reactive

oxygen-mediated bacterial killing through increased glycolytic flux. Nature

microbiology, 4(10), 1716.

Stauffer, S., Gardner, A., Ungu, D. A. K., López-Córdoba, A., & Heim, M. (2018). Cellular

Respiration. In Labster Virtual Lab Experiments: Basic Biology (pp. 43-55). Springer

Spektrum, Berlin, Heidelberg.

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Zheng, X., Boyer, L., Jin, M., Mertens, J., Kim, Y., Ma, L., ... & Hunter, T. (2016). Metabolic

reprogramming during neuronal differentiation from aerobic glycolysis to neuronal

oxidative phosphorylation. Elife, 5, e13374.