Citrate

Citric acid cycle

Citrate is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, also known as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle or the Krebs cycle, a central metabolic pathway for animals, plants, and bacteria. In the Krebs cycle, citrate synthase catalyzes the condensation of oxaloacetate with acetyl CoA to form citrate. Citrate then acts as the substrate for aconitase and is converted into aconitic acid. The cycle ends with regeneration of oxaloacetate. This series of chemical reactions is the source of two-thirds of the food-derived energy in higher organisms. The chemical energy released is available under the form of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Hans Adolf Krebs received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery.