Animal life without oxygen: Basic biochemical mechanisms

Abstract

A variety of animals are now known to be facultative anaerobes, capable of utilizing molecular oxygen when it is present and capable of sustained anaerobiosis when it is absent. During anoxia these organisms rely upon the simultaneous catabolism of carbohydrate and amino acids. In probing the mechanisms utilized, this essay accounts for (1) the maintenance of redox balance during anoxia, (2) the sources of energy in the form of ATP, and (3) the formation of a multiplicity of anaerobic end products. © 1973 by the American Society of Zoologists.