SHS

GENERAL BIOLOGY 1
Quarter 2 – Week 6
Module 5- Role of Oxygen in Respiration
GENERAL BIOLOGY 1
Grade 11/12 Quarter 2 - Module 5- Role of Oxygen in Respiration
First Edition, 2020

Copyright © 2020
La Union Schools Division
Region I

All rights reserved. No part of this module may be reproduced in any form without
written permission from the copyright owners.

Development Team of the Module

Author: EMILIA V. VIZCARRA, MT-I

Editor: SDO La Union, Learning Resource Quality Assurance Team

Illustrator: Ernesto F. Ramos Jr., P II

Management Team:

Atty. Donato D. Balderas, Jr.

Schools Division Superintendent

Vivian Luz S. Pagatpatan, Ph.D.

Assistant Schools Division Superintendent

German E. Flora, Ph.D., CID Chief

Virgilio C. Boado, Ph.D., EPS in Charge of LRMS

Rominel S. Sobremonte, Ed.D., EPS in Charge of Science

Michael Jason D. Morales, PDO II

Claire P. Toluyen, Librarian II

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GENERAL BIOLOGY 1
Quarter 2 – Week 6
Module 5- Role of Oxygen in
Respiration
 Target

Cellular respiration comes in two forms, aerobic and anaerobic. In aerobic

respiration, oxygen is required by cells to convert glucose into energy whereas in
anaerobic respiration, cells break down sugars to produce energy in the absence of
oxygen.

. In your previous lessons, you learned about the major features of glycolysis,
pyruvic oxidation, Krebs cycle and electron transport chain. You also noted that
glycolysis uses and produces ATP. This module will provide you with the information
and activities that will help you understand the role of oxygen in respiration and
describe pathways of electron flow in the absence of oxygen.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Describe the role of oxygen in respiration

Before going on, check how much you know about this topic. Answer the
pretest on the next page in a separate sheet of paper.

2. Describe the pathways of electron flow in the absence of oxygen

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5
 Jumpstart

Cellular respiration is an oxidative process that oxidizes an electron donor and

reduces oxygen for the development of carbon dioxide, water and electricity.

For you to be more engaged in the lesson, do the following activity. Have
fun and good luck!

Discover

Oxygen is vital to survival of almost all organisms. Without it,

generating enough energy to fuel cellular processes is impossible. However,
in some cases, the absence of oxygen may still be beneficial to a number of
organisms as this leads to the formation of useful products.

The Role of Oxygen in Respiration

In aerobic cellular respiration, an oxygen molecule, O 2, is the final
electron acceptor for the electron transport chain. If aerobic respiration
takes place, then, during the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis,
molecules

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of ATP will be formed using energy from high-energy electrons brought to the
electron transport chain by NADH or FADH2.
NAD+ and FAD are regenerated when NADH or FADH 2 send their high
energy electrons to the electron transport chain. These low-energy molecules
cycle back to glycolysis and/or citric acid, where they capture more electrons
of high energy and allow the process to begin.
If there is no NAD+ present to pick up electrons as the reactions
continue, glycolysis and the citric acid cycle do not occur. This is not a
problem when oxygen is present, all of the NADH and FADH 2 that were created
during glycolysis and the citric acid cycle is transformed into NAD+ and FAD
after the electron transport chain.
The electron transport chain is a series of electron transporters or
complexes embedded in the inner mitochondrial membrane which shuttle
electrons from NADH and FADH2 to molecular oxygen. In the process, protons
are pumped to the intermembrane space from the mitochondrial matrix, and
oxygen is reduced to form water.
There are four electron complexes to which electron move through
before ending with oxygen as the final acceptor. Complex I, Complex II,
Complex III, and Complex IV. Complex V is better known as ATP synthase,
that which generates ATP. There are two other molecules associated with
the chain which are the coenzyme Ubiquinone (coU) and cytochrome C
(CytC).
The process starts when NADH approaches complex I and gives up its
proton and electron and becomes NAD. NADH donates its electrons to complex
I and make it supercharged which causes the pumping of H + ions from the
mitochondrial matrix to the intermembrane space. Then electrons from
complex I is picked up by CoU. FADH 2 approaches complex II gives up and
donates its electron. Unlike Complex I, complex II is not supercharged so it
cannot pump H+ ions. The electrons in complex II is passed to coU. Then,
electrons from coU are passed to Complex III and become supercharged thus,
allowing protons to be pumped out to the intermembrane space. The buildup
of H+ (protons) creates a proton gradient. Electrons from Complex III moves to
cytC and then passed to complex IV then becomes supercharged. Complex IV
can pumped more H+ (protons) to the intermembrane space. Electrons from
Complex IV are passed to oxygen as the final acceptor. Oxygen molecule splits
into two. Two H2O molecules are formed. NAD + and FAD become available in
the cell for cellular respiration to begin.

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 Source:https://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]:
rZudN6XP@4/Introduction
Figure 1. Electron Transport System with
an oxygen molecule as the final
electron acceptor

Pathways of Electron Flow in the Absence of Oxygen

If there is no NAD+ present to pick up electrons, glycolysis and the citric acid
cycle do not occur. This is not a problem when oxygen is present, all of the NADH
and FADH2 that were created during glycolysis and the citric acid cycle is
transformed after the electron transport chain back into NAD+ and FAD.
In aerobic respiration, the electron transport chain does not occur when no
oxygen is present since nothing will serve as the final acceptor of electrons. This
means that NADH's electrons will not be recognized by the ETC as its power source,
so NAD+ will not be regenerated. For cells to continue to produce ATP, NADH must
be converted back to NAD+ for use as an electron carrier.
Anaerobic processes use different mechanisms, but all function to convert
NADH back to NAD+(Figure 2). There are two ways in which this is done. First is the
use of an organic molecule to regenerate NAD+ from NADH. This is collectively
called fermentation. Second is the use of inorganic molecule (such as nitrate or
sulfur) to regenerate NAD+. Both methods are referred to as anaerobic cellular
respiration. They do not require oxygen to regenerate NAD+ and enable organisms
and convert energy for use in the absence of oxygen.
In anaerobic respiration, glycolysis occurs. The 2 molecules of NADH that are
generated in the process are converted back into NAD+ so that glycolysis can
continue. Since glycolysis generates only two net ATP molecules, anaerobic
respiration is much less efficient than aerobic respiration. However, 2 ATP
molecules is so essential as the cell dies if it does not generate any ATP at all. In
anaerobic respiration, the cell has to continue performing glycolysis to produce a
minimal energy molecule (2 ATP).
Anaerobic respiration uses molecules other than oxygen as the terminal
electron acceptors in the electron transport chain. The electron transport chain is
still included in this form, but without using oxygen as the terminal electron
acceptor. Instead, as electron acceptors, molecules like sulfate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3-

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), or sulfur (S) are used. These molecules have a lower reduction potential than
oxygen, so in anaerobic versus aerobic environments, less energy is released per
glucose molecule. For fermentation, pyruvate serves as an electron acceptor to
recycle NAD+. Some bacteria use sulphate ion and produce hydrogen sulfide
instead of water which produces an odor like a rotten egg in some environment.
Anaerobic respiration uses several different types of electron acceptors. The
use of nitrate (NO3-) as the terminal electron acceptor is denitrification. Nitrate has a
high reduction potential, like oxygen. This process is widespread, and is used by
many Proteobacteria members. Ferric iron (Fe 2+) and various organic electron
acceptors can also be used by several denitrifying bacteria.
Sulfate reduction uses sulfate (SO 2−4) as the acceptor of electrons, generating
as a metabolic end result hydrogen sulfide (H 2S). A relatively energetically weak
method is sulfate reduction, which is used by many Gram negative bacteria found
within the δ-Proteobacteria.
Acetogenesis is a form of microbial metabolism that uses hydrogen (H 2) for the
development of acetate as an electron donor and carbon dioxide ( CO 2) as an electron
acceptor, the same electron donors and methanogenesis acceptors.
A widespread anaerobic terminal electron acceptor used by both autotrophic
and heterotrophic species is ferric iron (Fe 3+). The flow of electrons in these species is
similar to the flow of electrons, resulting in oxygen or nitrate, except that the final
enzyme in this mechanism is ferric iron reductase in ferric iron-reducing species.

Source"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lactic_acid_fermentation.png
Figure 2. Anaerobic Respiration

Lactic Acid Fermentation

In lactic acid fermentation (Figure 2), glycolysis occurs the way it happens in
aerobic respiration. A glucose molecule breaks to form two pyruvate molecules. The
pyruvate molecules in this process does not undergo decarboxylation but will be
directly reduced by NADH to produce lactate. This allows the regeneration of NAD+
for use during glycolysis. It is involves in no release of CO2.
The fermentation method used by animals and some bacteria like those in
yogurt is lactic acid fermentation. This occurs routinely in mammalian red blood
cells and in skeletal muscle that does not have enough oxygen to allow aerobic
respiration to continue (such as in muscles after hard exercise). The chemical
reaction of lactic acid fermentation is the following:
Pyruvic acid + NADH ↔ lactic acid + NAD+

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 Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lactic_acid_fermentation.png
Figure 3. Lactic Acid Fermentation

Alcohol Fermentation

In alcohol fermentation (Figure 3) a glucose molecule breaks to form two

pyruvate molecules two ATP molecules using NAD+ in the process. Each pyruvate
undergoes decarboxylation to produce acetaldehyde. And finally, acetaldehyde is
reduced to ethanol using 2 molecules of NADH in the process. NADH is converted
back to NAD+.
The chemical reaction of alcohol fermentation is the following:
Pyruvic acid + NADH ↔ ethyl alcohol + CO2 + NAD+

The fermentation of pyruvic acid by yeast produces the ethanol found in

alcoholic beverages. If the carbon dioxide produced by the reaction is not released
from the fermentation chamber, for example in beer and sparkling wines, it remains
dissolved in the medium until the pressure is released. Ethanol above 12 percent is
toxic to yeast, so natural levels of alcohol in wine occur at a maximum of 12 percent.

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Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ethanol_fermentation-1.svg
Figure 4. Alcohol Fermentation

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Key Answer:

15. A
14. D
13. A
12. B
11. B
10. D
C 9.
8. B
7.
A B
6.
5.
A C
4.
3. C
B 2.
1. D
Gauge
Answers vary
Enrichment activity 3
Answers vary
Enrichment Activity 2
5. False
4. True
3. True
2. False
1. True
Enrichment Activity 2

Answers vary
Activity 1

5.
A D
4.
3. C
2. B
1. D
Pre-test

Answer Key

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References
Printed Materials:

Belardo, Millete. 2016. General Biology. Philippines: Vibal Publishing House.

Faltado, Ruben, et al. 2017. General Biology 1. Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing,
Inc.

Website:
Bartee, Lisa.2016. Metabolism Without Oxygen: Fermentation

https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/mhccmajorsbio/chapter/7-8-fermentation-
an-anaerobic- process/#:~:text=When%20no%20oxygen%20is%20present,NAD%2B
%20will%20no t%20be%20regenerated.

"Electron Transport Chain”. 2020. Courses.Lumenlearning.Com.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-biology1/chapter/reading-electron-
transport- chain/#:~:text=The%20electron%20transport%20chain%20is,is
%20reduced%20to
%20form%20water.

“Anaerobic Respiration”. 2020. Courses.Lumenlearning.Com.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-microbiology/chapter/anaerobic-
respiration/

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