A tissue culture of vertebrate muscle was provided with a constant excess supply of glucose under anaerobic conditions starting at time zero and the amounts of pyruvic acid and ATP produced were measured. The solid line in the graph above represents the pyruvic acid produced in moles per liter per minute. ATP levels were also found to be highest at points A and C, lowest at B and D. A second culture was set up under the same conditions, except that substance X was added, and the results are indicated by the dotted line.

Which of the following is most likely to result if oxygen is added to the tissue culture?

Question

A tissue culture of vertebrate muscle was provided with a constant excess supply of glucose under anaerobic conditions starting at time zero and the amounts of pyruvic acid and ATP produced were measured. The solid line in the graph above represents the pyruvic acid produced in moles per liter per minute. ATP levels were also found to be highest at points A and C, lowest at B and D. A second culture was set up under the same conditions, except that substance X was added, and the results are indicated by the dotted line.

Which of the following is most likely to result if oxygen is added to the tissue culture?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: Under anaerobic conditions with excess glucose, pyruvate and ATP production were measured, with a graph showing pyruvate production (solid line) and ATP levels peaking at A and C and dipping at B and D. A second culture added substance X under the same conditions. The prompt asks: Which of the following is most likely to result if oxygen is added to the tissue culture?

Option analysis:
- Option: For each glucose molecule consumed, more ATP will be formed.
  This statement aligns with fundamental bioenergetics. In the absence of oxygen, cells rely on anaerobic glycolysis, yielding only 2 ATP per glucose (net). When oxygen is available, pyruvate produced in glycolysis is shuttled into the mitochondria where acetyl-CoA enters the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation occurs. The electron transport chain uses O2 as the terminal electron acceptor, enabling a much larger yield of ATP per glucose molecule, typically around 30–32 ATP in many eukaryotic cells. Therefore, supplying oxygen would increase ATP yield per glucose, making this option a correct characterization of the expected metabolic shift.

Why this is likely correct in the context of the graph:
- The solid line shows pyruvate production across time under anaerobic conditions; if O2 were added, cells could oxidize more pyruvate via the aerobic pathway, leading to increased ATP production without necessarily a drastic change in pyruvate accumulation initially (pyruvate could funnel into acetyl-CoA and the TCA cycle). As ATP production climbs via oxidative phosphorylation, the overall energy state of the cell improves compared to anaerobic fermentation.

Why there are no alternative options to compare here:
- The provided data set includes only one answer choice. Since no other options are listed, there is no basis to evaluate other incorrect statements. In a typical multiple-choice scenario, we would assess each distractor for common misconceptions (e.g., assuming ATP production remains the same, or that oxygen would halt glycolysis entirely, or that only glycolysis contributes to ATP under aerobic conditions). Here, the core biological expectation when oxygen is present is an increased ATP yield per glucose molecule, which this option expresses.

In summary, the addition of oxygen enables aerobic respiration, substantially increasing ATP yield per glucose compared with anaerobic glycolysis, so the stated outcome—more ATP formed per glucose molecule—is the expected result.

APBIO141-031 with labs S09 - CollegeBoard* AP Exam Prep: Multiple Choice

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