Electrons terminate on:
- insoluble minerals
- extracellular conductive matrices
- electrodes
- extracellular partner organisms
Operational definition
Metabolic mode.
Respiration in which the terminal electron acceptor is located outside the cell and electrons must be transferred across the cell envelope to reach it.
The acceptor may be:
- an insoluble mineral;
- an electrode;
- a conductive biological structure;
- an extracellular molecule;
- another organism.
Extracellular respiration is a subtype of respiration defined by the acceptor’s physical location, not by whether oxygen is present.