Association for Biology Laboratory Education

The Glycolysis Puzzle: From Glucose to Pyruvate and Everything in Between
 

Alma Rodriguez Estrada

Advances in Biology Laboratory Education, 2020, Volume 41

https://doi.org/10.37590/able.v41.art51

Abstract

Glycolysis is the first stage of cellular respiration where glucose is broken down to pyruvate (pyruvic acid). Glycolysis involves a total of 10 steps through which glucose is split and partially oxidized to pyruvate. The 10 steps of glycolysis might be difficult to understand and remember. However, knowing details about this pathway is essential to learn the later stages of aerobic cellular respiration, fermentation and gluconeogenesis. Furthermore, a solid knowledge of glycolysis is essential to understand the regulatory mechanisms of glycolysis and how other sugars and intermediates can enter and leave the pathway. The glycolysis puzzle activity involves group work where the participants are provided with structures, names of enzymes, free energy change values and a worksheet that briefly describes each step of glycolysis. The task is to assemble the glycolytic pathway, discuss the rationale behind each chemical reaction, explore the key regulatory steps and allosteric enzyme effectors, among others.

Keywords:  metabolism, cellular respiration, glycolysis, pathways, pyruvate

University of Ottawa (2019)