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Article: Glycolysis and Fermentation
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- Biology
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Glycolysis and Fermentation
Glycolysis is an
anaerobic
metabolic pathway, found in the
cytosol
of all cells, which forms adenosine triphosphate (
ATP
) by degrading
glucose
. It also serves as a source of precursors for other pathways, and as a recipient of products of various pathways for use as metabolic fuels. Its universal and central role in
metabolism
suggests that glycolysis evolved early in the history of life.
In the overall reaction for glycolysis, one molecule of glucose is converted to two molecules of pyruvic acid. Along the way, two molecules of adenosine diphosphate (
ADP
) are
phosphorylated
to ATP, and two molecules of NAD
+
(the
oxidized
form of NAD, or ...