Thursday, February 26, 2009
Cellular Respiration and ATP
It's about that time again for yet another blog. As you are all aware of, this week we're talking about the process of Cellular Respiration and the production of ATP. There are two major types of Respiration: Aerobic and Anaerobic. The amount that Aerobic respiration yields is 36 ATP and the amount that Anaerobic respiration yields (in the combined efforts of Lactic acid and Ethanol fermentation) is a total of 4 ATP. Clearly, in the absence of oxygen there is less ATP produced. As humans require oxygen, we would not survive on Anearobic alone; we must have Aerobic respiration to live. Although we require O2 to live, some human muscle cells can still produce ATP under conditions that are Anaerobic. With that in mind though, because there is so little ATP produced, those muscle cells would run out quite easily and can therefore lead to Lactic acid buildup. Thus, we need Aerobic Respiration to fuel more ATP production. I would think that "warm-blooded " animals would produce more ATP than "cold-blooded" animals in order to heat their blood to a higher temperature. What are your ideas on this?
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I like that you included how much ATP is produced by each form of respiration (aerobic=36 vs anaerobic=4) it gives a good perspective on why we couldn't exist solely on anaerobic respiration, as you say, our muscle cells would run out easily.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amanda, I like how you included how much ATP is produced. I also believe you are correct on the issue of warm blooded animals. Good thoughts Lauren, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFor sure, thanks for summing up this lecture so well. Our cold blooded friends can sustain themselves for much longer time on smaller amounts of food. It's why some people who work with alligators and crocodiles are surprised when they get attacked. True, they are opportunist eaters, but during the winter months they barely eat at all.
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