Anatomy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anatomy - Assignment Example In this case, the last pathway stage is seen to regenerate the compound that is used in first step. There are 8 steps of the cycle and all of them are redox, decarboxylation and dehydration reaction which yield two molecules of carbon dioxide, reduced forms of NADH and FADH2 and one GTP/ATP. The reaction is taken to be an aerobic pathway since the FADH2 and NADH produced are supposed to transfer their electrons to the pathway that is next in the system that will utilize oxygen. If this transfer does not take place, the citric acid cycle oxidation steps will as well not occur. It is noted that citric acid cycle generates very little ATP directly and it never utilize oxygen. The acetyl group in the citric acid cycle is attached to four molecules of carbon oxaloacetate to form a six carbon citrate molecule. Citrate is oxidized through a series of steps and in this case it releases 2 carbon dioxide molecules for every acetyl group fed into the cycle. In the due course, 3 molecules of NAD + are seen to be reduced to NADH, A molecule of FAD is reduced to FADH2 as well as one ATP (based on the type of cell) is generated (through substrate-level phosphorylation).Since the final citric acid cycle product is as well the reactant, the cycle is seen to run continuously in the presence of reactants that are sufficient (Aragon and Lowenstein, 1980). Condensation is the first step. In this case, the 2 carbon acetyl group from acetyl CoA combines with a molecule of 4 carbon oxaloacetate to generate a citrate molecule of 6 carbons. CoA is seen to be bound to a sulfhydryl group and it diffuses away and combines with another acetyl group. The step is known to be irreversible since it is highly exergenic.The reaction rate is regulated by the negative feedback and the available ATP amount. It there is an increase in ATP levels, the reaction rate will decrease. If it ATP is limited, the reaction