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Senanu's Bio class

Chapter 9.6 – Fermentation

OBJECTIVE: Understand the environmental challenge that is solved by fermentation. OBJECTIVE: Describe the function of fermentation and when and where it occurs.

  1. Some anaerobes use sulfur or other compounds as their final electron acceptor. However, these compounds are not as electronegative as Oxygen. Looking back at figure 9.14, do you think such organisms could obtain as much energy as aerobic organisms from their electron transport chain? Explain why or why not?
  2. Under what conditions does fermentation take place?
  3. Why exactly does glycolysis cease when the electron transport chain gets ‘blocked’ up?
  4. In what step of glycolysis is NAD+ a reactant?
  5. Explain why NADH does not get ‘used up’ and converted back to NAD+ in the absence of the final exectron acceptor?
  6. How does fermentation solve this problem and regenerate NAD+?
  7. Which is more efficient in terms of ATP produced per molecule of glucose, fermentation or aerobic respiration?
  8. Which is the evolutionarily older process, glycolysis or oxidative phosphorylation? What evidence supports this?