Glenn Mayer

Biology

1 June, 22:53

68. A biologist was culturing some muscle cells

from a mouse (an aerobic organism) in a petri

dish. He was interested in measuring the amount

of ATP produced by the muscle cells when the

cells were supplied with glucose. At the beginning

of the experiment, the cells were producing large

quantities of ATP. He then added a substance

called malonic acid to the cell culture, and the

amount of ATP produced fell to near zero.

a) Which organelles in the muscle cells were

most likely affected by the malonic acid?

b) Why did the ATP production fall to near zero

but not actually zero?

c) Propose a testable hypothesis concerning res-

piration in cells treated with malonic acid.

d) Predict the effect of malonic acid on an anaer-

obic organism and explain your prediction.