Gycolosis/Krebs cycle/ Electron Transport?

Question

the question is to generally explain the difference between each. Gycolysis and Krebs cycle/Electron transport.

Answer 1

Glycolysis occurs in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells, and is a set of reactions that converts glucose into 2 pyruvate. In the process, a net of 2 ATP and 2 NADH are produced.

The Krebs cycle (aka Citric acid cycle) occurs in the matrix of the mitochondria. This set of reactions takes the pyruvate from glycolysis (and 2-carbon fragments from fatty acids) and oxidizes them to carbon dioxide. In the process, each pyruvate leads to the formation of 4 NADH, 2 FADH2 and 2 ATP (or GTP depending on the book and the organism).

The electron transport chain removes the electrons from NADH and FADH2 and transfers them through a series of carriers to oxygen. That converts the oxygen into water. As the electrons are transferred, a whole lot of ATP can be produced.

Hope this helps, since I don't know what level of detail you are after.

Answer 2

Not really. The Electron transport chain creates an electrostatic gradient, so the amount of ATP produced is dependent on the gradient ... so its not really a fixed number. The estimate for how much ATP is then produced is kinda controversial for that reason.