Question
Why is it important for the cell that the NADH produced when pyruvate is converted to lactate be converted back to NAD $^{+} ?$
Step 1
This process is catalyzed by lactate dehydrogenase. During this process, NADH is oxidized to NAD$^{+}$. \[ \text{Pyruvate} + \text{NADH} \xrightarrow{\text{lactate dehydrogenase}} \text{Lactate} + \text{NAD}^{+} \] Show more…
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Why is the breakdown of pyruvate essential in the process of anaerobic fermentation? It results in the regeneration of NAD+ It provides the source of glucose to be converted to pyruvate in glycolysis It provides prokaryotic organisms with additional ATP that would not be generated during glycolysis It produces the coenzyme A that is used to create the substrate for the Krebs cycle
In the conversion of glucose into two molecules of lactate, the NADH generated earlier in the pathway is oxidized to $\mathrm{NAD}^{+} .$ Why is it not to the cell's advantage to simply make more $\mathrm{NAD}^{+}$ so that the regeneration would not be necessary? After all, the cell would save much energy because it would no longer need to synthesize lactic acid dehydrogenase.
Why is the conversion of pyruvate to lactate (lactic acid) critical for anaerobic glycolysis? (how does this conversion allow glycolysis to continue to run without oxygen?)
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