Chemoorganotrophy Part 1 - Glucose Catabolism (E2)

Question 1

What is the difference in terminal electron acceptors (TEAs) in fermentation and respiration?

Answer 1

Fermentation - endogenous

Respiration - exogenous

Question 2

Name the 3 main routes for glucose metabolism.

Answer 2

1) Glycolysis (EMP)
2) Entner-Doudoroff
3) Pentose phosphate

Question 3

Which pathway is the primary pathway for archaea and bacteria in the human gut biome?

Answer 3

Entner-Doudoroff

Question 4

What are the products of Entner-Doudoroff?

Answer 4

2 pyruvate
1 ATP
1 NADH
1 NADPH

Question 5

What is the key intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway?

Answer 5

Ribulose-5-Phosphate (RuBP)

Question 6

Why is RuBP so important?

Answer 6

It is a major energy contributor and precursor metabolite for biosynthesis

Question 7

In what 2 ways is fermentation so different from other catabolic processes?

Answer 7

1) No electron transport chain
2) No exogenous TEA

Question 8

Why is fermentation important despite its low energy yield?

Answer 8

A large amount of material is catabolized

Question 9

Name 2 fermentation pathways and what they produce.

Answer 9

1) Homolactic - lactic acid
2) Alcoholic - ethanol

Question 10

What what 3 fields is industrial microbiology useful in?

Answer 10

1) Food
2) Pharmacy
3) Genetic engineering

Question 11

Process of searching for organisms with potential commercial applications.

Answer 11

What is bioprospecting?

Question 12

Naturally occurring in food, fermented foods depend on this.

Answer 12

What is indigenous flora?

Question 13

Fermented foods may also depend on these, which come from prior fermentation.

Answer 13

What are starter cultures?