∞ generated and posted on 2016.08.25 ∞
Anaerobic process that chemically splits sugars and is used by cells to generate ATP.
Glycolysis involves the conversion of one glucose molecule into a net total of two ATPs, two NADHs, and two molecules of , all at the expense of two NAD+. Without NAD+, glycolysis cannot proceed and cells consequently cannot make ATP.
More precisely, chemoheterotrophic organisms as well as autotrophs living off of chemical energy cannot make ATP without an ongoing supply of NAD+. See also glycolysis stoichiometry.
Built on "top" of glycolysis in many organisms is pyruvate oxidation, the Krebs citric acid cycle, electron transport, generation of a proton motive force, ATP synthase, and conversion of molecular oxygen (O2) to water, i.e., cellular respiration and associated chemiosmosis.
Detailed, step-by-step walk through the anaerobic, ATP-producing catabolic pathway that begins such as with glucose and ends with pyruvate: