alcoholic fermentation in plants

[Degenerate]

i know that alcoholic fermentation happens with fungi (yeast). But after reading a book, it says that it also happens in "higher high plant cells". Any one know if plants do prefom alcoholic fermentation to any degree? and since plants should be aerobiclly respiring, when would they not get enoough oxygen and have to carry out fermentation?


Thanks.



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[Degenerate]

Bump

 

[Shuten]

First off your premise is all wrong. Plants do not utilize oxygen but give is off as a product.
Only organism that use oxygen to produce ATP could go through Alcoholic fermenation.
Some Bacteria can as well but I think that it.

 

[exp]

Only organism that use oxygen to produce ATP could go through Alcoholic fermenation.
Some Bacteria can as well but I think that it.

That is not quite true. The breakdown of sugar into carbon dioxide, alcohol, and ATP takes place in at least some plants. Unfortunately I don't know anything else about it other than the fact that it *does* happen.

 

[Degenerate]

Well all organismes must respire and most uses oxygen to do so. But i was interested in why plants repire anerobically

Thanks

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: Shuten
First off your premise is all wrong. Plants do not utilize oxygen but give is off as a product.
Only organism that use oxygen to produce ATP could go through Alcoholic fermenation.
Some Bacteria can as well but I think that it.

Did you take Biology? Plants NEED OXYGEN, same as animals. Plants undergo both respiration and photsynthesis. In respiration they require oxygen to convert the ADP into ATP. In photosynthesis they require light to produce the energy required to produce oxygen from CO2. Plants have mitochondrion, so they undergo respiration, which in turn means that they require oxygen. If you were to place plants into a CO2 atmosphere, they culd survive because they break down the CO2 into oxygen. But if you were to place a plant in say an Argon atmoshpere it would die, the same as an animal. Plants either require an atmoshpere containing, oxygen, carbon dioxide, or a mixture of both. In an oxygen atmoshpere they use the oxygen for respiration, which produces CO2, which they then use in photosynthesis. In a CO2 atmosphere, they use the CO2 in photosynthesis, which produces O2 that they use in respiration.

Also, the common cells used to produce Alcohol are yeast. Yeast do not require oxygen, or CO2 for respiration or photosynthesis. Yeast break down sugar to use for respiration, which produces their energy. Fermentation is the break down of a simple, or complex carbohydrate to produce energy and alcohol. When a major company makes an alcohol product, they have huge vats filled with a simple solution of sugar + water + yeast. The yeast use the sugar to produce the alcohol. Depending on how alcoholic you want it depends on how long you let it ferment.