Students have been studying cellular respiration in their biology class and are working on a computer simulation that allows them to test the effects of several variables on the products of respiration. In one simulation, they are asked to change the initial concentrations of several gases, one at a time, to see the impact on ATP production in a muscle cell.

Question

If the students begin by removing oxygen from the muscle cell, what should they predict will occur?
Responses

The cell will produce more ATP because oxygen inhibits ATP production in the mitochondria.
The cell will produce more ATP because oxygen inhibits ATP production in the mitochondria.

The cell will produce no ATP at all since oxygen is critical to ATP production.
The cell will produce no ATP at all since oxygen is critical to ATP production.

The cell will produce the same amount of ATP since oxygen is not a factor in ATP production.
The cell will produce the same amount of ATP since oxygen is not a factor in ATP production.

The cell will produce some ATP but in much lower amounts than if oxygen was present.

Answer 1

The most accurate prediction the students should make is:

The cell will produce some ATP but in much lower amounts than if oxygen was present.

In the absence of oxygen, a muscle cell will switch to anaerobic respiration (specifically, fermentation) to generate ATP. This process is less efficient than aerobic respiration (which requires oxygen) and produces significantly less ATP per glucose molecule. While some ATP can still be produced via glycolysis, the overall yield will be much lower than that of aerobic respiration.