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Anaerobic Pathway p. 2

Without oxygen, NADH can't dump off its hydrogen and high energy electrons to the ETS. Therefore, it can't be converted back to NAD+. NAD+ is needed to keep the process of glycolysis going. Organisms in an anaerobic environment will regenerate NAD+ by dumping off the hydrogen and high energy electrons to pyruvic acid (pyruvate) molecules that weren't able to enter the backed up Kreb's cycle. This causes pyruvic acid to be reduced and converted into a different molecule. In some organisms like yeast and some bacteria, pyruvic acid eventually forms ethyl alcohol. In other organisms, including humans, the pyruvic acid is converted to lactic acid as it is reduced by the NADH. In both cases, NAD+ is regenerated and glycolysis can then continue to proceed.

After you answer question 50, click on the lactic acid pathway to learn about this anaerobic pathway.

 

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