Ch. 15 Flashcards
What are the 4 unifying themes of fermentation?
- O2 is not needed
- Electron acceptor is usually either pyruvate or pyruvate derivative
- NADH must be oxidized to NAD+ without an ETC
- ATP yield per glucose is significantly reduced (no ETC)
Define fermentation.
A pathway in which NADH is reoxidized by metabolites produced by the pathway
What are fermentations named after?
The major end products they generate
What are the 6 main classes of carbohydrate fermentations?
- Lactic
- Ethanol
- Butyric
- Mixed acid
- Propionic
- Homoacetic
Why are strict anaerobes killed by oxygen?
- Toxic products of oxygen reduction are produced when single electrons are added to oxygen sequentially
- These toxic products accumulate in the cell
What toxic products are produced by oxygen reduction?
- Hydroxyl radical (OH•)
- Superoxide radical (O2-)
- Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)
Why don’t aerobic and aerotolerant organisms acumulate superoxide radicals or hydrogen peroxide, but strict anaerobes do?
- Aerobes/aerotolerants have superoxide disumutase and catalase
- Strict anaerobes don’t have these enzymes that break down the toxic products
What reaction does superoxide dismutase catalyze?
O2- + O2- + 2H2 –> H2O2 + O2
What reaction does catalase catalyze?
H2O2 + H2O2 –> 2H2O + O2
How do most fermenting bacteria make most or all of their ATP?
Substrate-level phosphorylations
How do anaerobes generate a Δp (needed for solute transport, motility, etc.)?
- Reversing membrane-bound ATPase
- Reducing fumarate
- Carrying out a periplasmic oxidation of electron donors
- W. succinogenes
Explain what is happening in the figure (energy conservation in anaerobic bacteria).
Fermentation pathways themselves produce the electron acceptors for the electrons produced during oxidations. What are these electron acceptors called?
Electron sinks
- Because they dispose of the electrons removed during the oxidations
- The reduced products are excreted into the medium
What are fermentation processes categorized by? (as in what is their defining characteristic)
Excretion of large quantities of reduced organic compounds (alcohols, organic acids, solvents, hydrogen gas)
What is the anaerobic food chain?
The fermentation of amino acids, carbs, purines, and pyrimidines to organic acids and alcohols and the conversion of these compounds to CO2/CH4/H2
- By prokaryotes