MIC 102 STUDY GUIDE 2025/2026 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Fermentation - ✔✔Produces the least ATP, simple mechanism, needs NAD+ to run
it, used to make ATP and NADH, HAS NO ETC
✔✔Respiration - ✔✔makes lots of ATP, requires ETC,
✔✔pyruvate fermentation - ✔✔makes lactate, ethanol, CO2, Propionate, 2,3-
Butanediol, pyruvate converts NADH into NAD+
✔✔Homolactic fermentation - ✔✔glucose → pyruvate→lactate
✔✔ethanol fermentation - ✔✔Substrate-level phosphorylati during glycolysis going from
glucose to pyruvate
✔✔respiration ion gradients - ✔✔many have Iron to pull oxygen from H2O
✔✔Non-O2 Respiration - ✔✔any typeof respiration will generate 30+ ATP per glucose,
✔✔Chemoautotrophs/Chemolithotrophs - ✔✔E donor is an inorganic compound, use
ETC to get energy to fix CO2,
✔✔chemoautotrophs - ✔✔can make ATP easy;y, but NADH is hard they have to run the
ETC backwards
✔✔gradients in photosythesis - ✔✔e- excited by light, pigment is e- donor, Bacteria can
do this not Archea
✔✔cyclic vs non-cyclic - ✔✔non-cyclic the e- goes to NADP , e acceptor can be original
chlorophyll, most phototrophs use NADP as E- acceptor
✔✔anoxygenic phtotsythesis - ✔✔don't generate oxygen, can be cyclic or not, H2O
replenishes e- pigment
✔✔oxygenic photosynthesis - ✔✔always non-cyclic, H2O is donor
✔✔how to make precursor metabolites - ✔✔1)entry into the cell 2) feeder pathways 3)
central pathways
✔✔central pathways - ✔✔3 of them, TCA, glycolysis, and pentose phosphate cycle
✔✔feeder pathways - ✔✔heterotrophs: simple process
-convert organic compounds into intermediate molecules
, -functionally complicated
-potentially could need to use many compunds
-use polymer breakdown and isomerization
Autotrophs: must fix carbon
✔✔Calvin cycle - ✔✔feeder pathway for carbon fixation
most autotrophs use rubisco
uses: 6 CO2, 12 NADPH, and 18 ATP
makes: 1 C6H12O6, 12 NAD+, 17 ATP, and 12 Pi
✔✔Alternative Calvin cycle - ✔✔not as effective, one option is to run the TCA cycle
backwards
✔✔Glycolysis - ✔✔glucose-> 2 ATP,2 pyruvate, 2 NADH, and 4 ATP
✔✔pentose-phosphate - ✔✔alternative to making glyceraldehyde-3-P and fructorse 6 p
(also seen in Calvin cycle and glycolysis)
makes 3 precursors
makes 2 NADPH
✔✔TCA cycle - ✔✔makes 3 precursors, 3 NADPH, and 1 FADH2
under anaerobic conditions some may only use part of cycle (to avoid excess NADH)
✔✔auxiliary pathways - ✔✔alternate pathways
Enter-Doudororoff: alt for glycolysis
Glyoxalate shunt: skips TCA steps that release CO2, saves carbon growing on acetate
Fermentation: alt for respiration
✔✔anaplerotic reactions - ✔✔replenish intermediates immediately
✔✔flexibility - ✔✔in anaerobic growth on glucose wants to avoid making excess
reducing power
growth on malate reverses the dire=ctions of most rxns in central pathways
✔✔building blocks - ✔✔to make you need: enough energy, reducing power, precursor
metabolites, assimilation of other needed molecules, P, S, N
✔✔Nitrogen - ✔✔hard to get into organic form, must be reduced to ammonia, only
prokarotes can fix atmos N2,
Takes 16 ATP to make
oxygen sensitive, nitrogenase reductase is highly conserved
✔✔glutamine/glutamine - ✔✔key in transferring amino groups, to make N containing
molecules
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Fermentation - ✔✔Produces the least ATP, simple mechanism, needs NAD+ to run
it, used to make ATP and NADH, HAS NO ETC
✔✔Respiration - ✔✔makes lots of ATP, requires ETC,
✔✔pyruvate fermentation - ✔✔makes lactate, ethanol, CO2, Propionate, 2,3-
Butanediol, pyruvate converts NADH into NAD+
✔✔Homolactic fermentation - ✔✔glucose → pyruvate→lactate
✔✔ethanol fermentation - ✔✔Substrate-level phosphorylati during glycolysis going from
glucose to pyruvate
✔✔respiration ion gradients - ✔✔many have Iron to pull oxygen from H2O
✔✔Non-O2 Respiration - ✔✔any typeof respiration will generate 30+ ATP per glucose,
✔✔Chemoautotrophs/Chemolithotrophs - ✔✔E donor is an inorganic compound, use
ETC to get energy to fix CO2,
✔✔chemoautotrophs - ✔✔can make ATP easy;y, but NADH is hard they have to run the
ETC backwards
✔✔gradients in photosythesis - ✔✔e- excited by light, pigment is e- donor, Bacteria can
do this not Archea
✔✔cyclic vs non-cyclic - ✔✔non-cyclic the e- goes to NADP , e acceptor can be original
chlorophyll, most phototrophs use NADP as E- acceptor
✔✔anoxygenic phtotsythesis - ✔✔don't generate oxygen, can be cyclic or not, H2O
replenishes e- pigment
✔✔oxygenic photosynthesis - ✔✔always non-cyclic, H2O is donor
✔✔how to make precursor metabolites - ✔✔1)entry into the cell 2) feeder pathways 3)
central pathways
✔✔central pathways - ✔✔3 of them, TCA, glycolysis, and pentose phosphate cycle
✔✔feeder pathways - ✔✔heterotrophs: simple process
-convert organic compounds into intermediate molecules
, -functionally complicated
-potentially could need to use many compunds
-use polymer breakdown and isomerization
Autotrophs: must fix carbon
✔✔Calvin cycle - ✔✔feeder pathway for carbon fixation
most autotrophs use rubisco
uses: 6 CO2, 12 NADPH, and 18 ATP
makes: 1 C6H12O6, 12 NAD+, 17 ATP, and 12 Pi
✔✔Alternative Calvin cycle - ✔✔not as effective, one option is to run the TCA cycle
backwards
✔✔Glycolysis - ✔✔glucose-> 2 ATP,2 pyruvate, 2 NADH, and 4 ATP
✔✔pentose-phosphate - ✔✔alternative to making glyceraldehyde-3-P and fructorse 6 p
(also seen in Calvin cycle and glycolysis)
makes 3 precursors
makes 2 NADPH
✔✔TCA cycle - ✔✔makes 3 precursors, 3 NADPH, and 1 FADH2
under anaerobic conditions some may only use part of cycle (to avoid excess NADH)
✔✔auxiliary pathways - ✔✔alternate pathways
Enter-Doudororoff: alt for glycolysis
Glyoxalate shunt: skips TCA steps that release CO2, saves carbon growing on acetate
Fermentation: alt for respiration
✔✔anaplerotic reactions - ✔✔replenish intermediates immediately
✔✔flexibility - ✔✔in anaerobic growth on glucose wants to avoid making excess
reducing power
growth on malate reverses the dire=ctions of most rxns in central pathways
✔✔building blocks - ✔✔to make you need: enough energy, reducing power, precursor
metabolites, assimilation of other needed molecules, P, S, N
✔✔Nitrogen - ✔✔hard to get into organic form, must be reduced to ammonia, only
prokarotes can fix atmos N2,
Takes 16 ATP to make
oxygen sensitive, nitrogenase reductase is highly conserved
✔✔glutamine/glutamine - ✔✔key in transferring amino groups, to make N containing
molecules
