anaerobic respiration

• consequences when not enough oxygen for respiration

  • There is no final acceptor (oxygen) of electrons from the electron transport chain
  • The electron transport chain stops functioning
  • No more ATP is produced via oxidative phosphorylation
  • Reduced NAD and FAD aren’t oxidised by an electron carrier
  • No oxidised NAD and FAD are available for dehydrogenation in the Krebs cycle
  • The Krebs cycle stops
  • The link reaction also stops
• processing lactate


  2 things can happen to lactate

  • It can be oxidised back to pyruvate which is then channelled into the Krebs cycle for ATP production
  • It can be converted into glucose by the liver cells for use during respiration or for storage (in the form of glycogen)
  • the oxidation of lactate back to pyruvate or glucose needs extra oxygen
  • This extra oxygen is referred to as an oxygen debt
  • It explains why animals breathe deeper and faster after exercise
• overview

  -       Only occurs in the cell cytoplasm

  -       The Pyruvate produced in glycolysis is reduced to form lactate by gaining the hydrogen from reduced NAD (produced in link reaction)

  -       This oxidises NAD so that can be reused in glycolysis and ensure ATP is continued to be produced.