This is a response post to classmate Danika

Her Post:

Cellular respiration and Fermentation 

1. Briefly differentiate between the two processes,including the reactants and products of both and the relative energy yield.

Aerobic respiration is the process in which oxygen is needed for the harvesting of chemical energy from organic molecules,whereas anaerobic respiration does not require oxygen to generate energy and for cells to work ,but uses the fermentation process instead (Simon,E.J.,Dickey,J.,&Reece, (2013).Both types of respiration uses different amount of energy and using more oxygen takes more energy.Aerobic respiration produces 32 ATP molecules for each glucose molecule while in anaerobic respiration produces 2 ATP molecules for each glucose molecule to consume .Anaerobic respiration is found in anaerobic bacteria and muscle cells ,while aerobic respiration would take place in plants and animal cells.Ethanol ,lactic acid and carbon dioxide are all produced during anaerobic respiration while aerobic respiration has carbon dioxide (CO2)  and  water (H2O) as its products.Glucose is a fuel mainly used in cell respiration and it what converts hydrogen atoms from the glucose to oxygen to form H2O .In conclusion anaerobic respiration uses fermentation as process to generate energy (ATP) .(Simon,E.J.,Dickey,J.,&Reece ,(2013).

2.Under what condition might our own cells use anaerobic respiration and why?

In a human body if the muscles are overworked in strenuous activities, such as lifting weights then the muscle cells becomes tired and uses fermentation to generate more energy which will only last for a short among of time.Therefore with this happening lactic acid may be produced due to the muscle cells being overworked.However being that the production of lactic acid is a back up energy source ,our body still requires oxygen to generate energy whereas anaerobic respiration may continue to recycle NAD+ to produce more glucose that’ll aid in the break down to pyruvic acid with the help of the fermentation process.(Simon,E.J.,Dickey,J.,& Reece,J.B.(2013).

3.Describe an example where humans commercially utilize anaerobic respiration; be specific about the purpose ,the organisms used and the products.

Humans commercially utilize anaerobic respiration to generate and preserve food through the fermentation process.Yeast is a great example as this is a microscopic fungus that uses both cellular respiration and fermentation.(Simon,E.J.,Dickey,J.,&Reece,J.B.(2013).If yeast cells are placed in a anaerobic environment than it’ll force them to produce sugars and other essentials to stay alive .Yeast is used in  numerous items such and wine and beers ,the alcoholic fermentation in this releases carbon dioxide.Another example of this is bread dough  as the fermenting of yeast causes it to rise due to the carbon dioxide bubbles.

References 

Simon,E.J.,Dickey,J.,Reece,J.B.(2013). Campbell Essential Biology (Fifth edition). Pages 94-103

Reply