If all reactions of glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation that use NAD+/NADH as electron carriers instead used FAD+/FADH2 as electron carriers, how many more or fewer ATP molecules wou... If all reactions of glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation that use NAD+/NADH as electron carriers instead used FAD+/FADH2 as electron carriers, how many more or fewer ATP molecules would be produced per molecule of glucose through aerobic cellular respiration?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking how the substitution of NAD+/NADH with FAD+/FADH2 as electron carriers in glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation would affect the total ATP yield during aerobic cellular respiration. It suggests a scenario where the typical electron carriers are changed and seeks to analyze the implications on ATP production.
Answer
5 fewer ATP
If all reactions that use NAD+/NADH were to use FAD+/FADH2 instead, 5 fewer ATP molecules would be produced per molecule of glucose during aerobic respiration.
Answer for screen readers
If all reactions that use NAD+/NADH were to use FAD+/FADH2 instead, 5 fewer ATP molecules would be produced per molecule of glucose during aerobic respiration.
More Information
Normally, each NADH produces about 2.5-3 ATP, while each FADH2 produces about 1.5-2 ATP. If all NADH were replaced by FADH2, the slightly lower ATP yield of FADH2 would result in a total of 5 ATP less per glucose molecule.
Tips
A common mistake is assuming equal ATP yields from NADH and FADH2. In reality, the yields are different.
Sources
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