A method by which living organisms metabolise fats or sugars with the aid of Oxygen in order to generate energy. Aerobic metabolism is rather more efficient than anaerobic metabolism. It actually starts off with the Glycolysis process of anaerobic metabolism, and then continues with the krebs cycle and oxydative phosphorylation.
Usually whatever is being metabolised is first converted to Acetyl-CoA, for sugars this would be by sugar->pyruvate by glycolysis then pyruvate_>Acetyl-CoA. This process yields a net gain in energy in the form of ATP. If no oxygen is present, then the proces goes no further. (see also: anaerobic metabolism ) The word equation for aerobic respiration is glucose+oxygen=carbon dioxide+water+energy
Krebs cycle
When oxygen is present, Acetyl-CoA enters the krebs cycle, and gets converted to CO2 while at the same time converting NAD + H to NADH.
And further
NADH can be used by several different processes to create further ATP.
In photomicrographs of stained aerobic and anaerobic cells abutted against each other and with a capillary in the corridor between them, the mitochondria of the aerobic fibers are seen bunched near the capillary like moths around a flame, while the anaerobic fiber shows no such activity.
The mitochondria are naturally at the periphery of the aerobic fiber but are spread in the interior of the anaerobic fiber.
Aerobic fibers use large adenosine molecules as energy transporters, with AMP moving out to the mitochondria to be recharged to ATP, then lumbering back to the interior to activate calcium ion release.
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