Aerobic and Anaerobic RespirationOnline Biology Dictionary
In aerobic respiration, which occurs in plants, animals, and many prokaryotes, glucose and oxygen are converted to carbon dioxide and water (producing on average 38 ATP molecules per oxidized glucose molecule). In anaerobic respiration (which occurs during fermentation), less energy is extracted (only 2 ATP molecules per glucose molecule) because the products of the process, such as ethanol, contain more energy than does carbon dioxide, the product of aerobic respiration. In muscle, the product of anaerobic respiration is lactic acid. In yeast, it is ethanol. Both aerobic and anaerobic respiration begin with glycolysis to produce pyruvic acid, but thereafter the pathways differ. In aerobic respiration, the pyruvate is transported into a mitochondrion and metabolized there, whereas in anaerobic respiration it is processed in the cytoplasm. See: carbon cycle.
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