Krebs Cycle

The Krebs cycle was founded by Hans Adolf Krebs in 1953,¹ however many of the reaction pathways were discovered earlier by its link to fumaric acid by Albert Szent-Györgyi in 1937.² The Krebs cycle requires oxygen to function, so it is an integral pathway for all aerobic organisms to generate ATP.

The Krebs cycle (Citric Acid Cycle or TCA cycle) occurs in the mitochondrial matrix. The pyruvates generated from glycolysis are converted to two acetyl-coenzyme As, which each degrade to help form citrate. The cycle is known to be recycling because the reactant of citrate is consumed at the beginning, and regenerated at the end of the cycle. Citrate goes through many chemical reactions aided by enzymes, an example is the production of carbon dioxide by the loss of two carboxyl groups – the residual electrons enter oxidative phosphorylation to produce more ATP.

As two acetyl-coenzyme As are produced from one molecule of glucose, each one must undergo the Krebs cycle and at the end 6 NADH, 2 FADH₂, CO₂ and 2 ATP are generated.³

References

1The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1953. The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved at http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1953/

2The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1937. The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved at http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1937/

3 Nelson, D.L., & Cox, M.M. Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, 6^th Edition.

BrainMass Solutions Available for Instant Download

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