Fates of Pyruvate after Glycolysis - EMP Pathway

Hello readers..

Wazzup??

Today we will be discussing some biochemistry.

Everybody knows Glycolytic reactions, it's enzymes and intermediates, the 2 ATP yield and the final product Pyruvate.

Yeah, today we will be knowing something about what happens to the pyruvate after glycolysis.

After glycolysis, the end product pyruvate can be further metabolized by three different pathways.

Let's have a look at them. Go.

• The first obvious route that we know is the TCA cycle. In aerobic organisms, EMP pathway does not utilze glucose fully and is only an initial process in complete degradation of glucose. Pyruvate is oxidized, with loss of its carboxyl group as CO2, to yield the acetyl group of acetyl-coenzyme A; the acetyl group is then oxidized completely to CO2 by the citric acid cycle. The electrons from these oxidations are passed to O2 through a chain of carriers (electron transport chain) in the mitochondrion, to form H2O. The energy from the electron-transfer reactions drives the synthesis of ATP in the mitochondrion.
• The second route which pyruvate can follow is, it's reduction to lactate by lactic acid fermentation pathway. Certain tissues and cell types (retina and erythrocytes, for example) convert glucose to lactate even under aerobic conditions. While contracting certain skeletal muscles function under low oxygen which is why NADH cannot be oxidised to NAD+. But we do require NAD+ for further oxidation of pyruvate. Hence, here pyruvate is converted into lactate thus accepting electrons from NADH and providing NAD+ for glycolysis to continue.
• The third and the last route is conversion of pyruvate to ethanol. This happens in case of plants and certain microbes  which directly covert pyruvate to ethanol in anaerobic atmosphere via alcohol fermentation pathway. 

I was once asked this question when I was a sophomore, but I didn't knew the answer lol :p

So I hope this helps you.

All the best with a clashing high six.

-Staph <3