Lactate produced in anaerobic glycolysis yields how many ATP per glucose?

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Multiple Choice

Lactate produced in anaerobic glycolysis yields how many ATP per glucose?

Explanation:
Under anaerobic conditions, energy from glucose comes from glycolysis alone, yielding a net 2 ATP per glucose. The conversion of pyruvate to lactate does not produce ATP; its role is to regenerate NAD+, allowing glycolysis to continue when oxygen is scarce. Without this NAD+ regeneration, glycolysis would halt due to a shortage of NAD+. Since oxidative phosphorylation and the citric acid cycle don’t significantly operate without oxygen, the overall ATP yield remains 2 per glucose. The other numbers would imply extra ATP production that doesn’t occur in this anaerobic scenario.

Under anaerobic conditions, energy from glucose comes from glycolysis alone, yielding a net 2 ATP per glucose. The conversion of pyruvate to lactate does not produce ATP; its role is to regenerate NAD+, allowing glycolysis to continue when oxygen is scarce. Without this NAD+ regeneration, glycolysis would halt due to a shortage of NAD+. Since oxidative phosphorylation and the citric acid cycle don’t significantly operate without oxygen, the overall ATP yield remains 2 per glucose. The other numbers would imply extra ATP production that doesn’t occur in this anaerobic scenario.

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