Aerobic Respiration: Link Reaction
- The end product of glycolysis is pyruvate
- Pyruvate contains a substantial amount of chemical energy that can be further utilised in respiration to produce more ATP
- When oxygen is available pyruvate will enter the mitochondrial matrix and aerobic respiration will continue
- Pyruvate moves across the double membrane of the mitochondria via active transport
- It requires a transport protein and a small amount of ATP
Pyruvate enters the mitochondrial matrix from the cytosol (cytoplasm) by active transport
- It is referred to as the link reaction because it links glycolysis to the Krebs cycle
- The steps are:
- Pyruvate is oxidised by enzymes to produce acetate, CH3CO(O)- and carbon dioxide, requiring the reduction of NAD to NADH
- Combination with coenzyme A to form acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl CoA)
- It produces:
- Acetyl coA
- Carbon dioxide (CO2)
- Reduced NAD (NADH)
pyruvate + NAD + CoA → acetyl CoA + carbon dioxide + reduced NAD
The link reaction occurs in the mitochondrial matrix. It dehydrogenates and decarboxylates the three-carbon pyruvate to produce the two-carbon acetyl CoA that can enter the Krebs Cycle.
Role of coenzyme A
- A coenzyme is a molecule that helps an enzyme carry out its function but is not used in the reaction itself
- Coenzyme A consists of a nucleoside (ribose and adenine) and a vitamin
- In the link reaction, CoA binds to the remainder of the pyruvate molecule (acetyl group 2C) to form acetyl CoA
- It then supplies the acetyl group to the Krebs cycle where it is used to continue aerobic respiration
- This is the stage that brings part of the carbohydrate (or lipid/amino acid) into the further stages of respiration and links the initial stage of respiration in the cytoplasm to the later stages in the mitochondria
Examiner Tip
Remember that there are two pyruvate molecules produced per glucose molecule so you need to multiply everything by 2 when thinking about what happens to a single glucose molecule in aerobic respiration.
