Types of Substrates

Types of Substrates

There are two kinds of respiration on basis of the substrate (suggested by Blackmann)

(i) Floating Respiration : Substrates are carbohydrates and fats.

Glucose and Fructose are common substrates of respiration.

Fats are broken into fattyacids and glycerol.

β-oxidation of fatty acids occurs in mitochondria (or glyoxisomes in plants)

Glyoxylate cycle occurs in glyoxisomes in cooperation with mitochondria and cytosol, to convert fat into carbohydrates (sucrose)

e.g. 

(ii) Protoplasmic Respiration :  Where proteins are respiratory substrates.

Proteins are broken into amino acids and further they release ammonia and disintegrate into keto acids. (e.g. α– ketoglutarate).

Protoplasmic respiration occurs during starvation and cannot continue for long as NH₃ is toxic.