An Experimenter Studying the Oxidation of Fatty Acids in Extracts

An experimenter studying the oxidation of fatty acids in extracts of liver found that when palmitate (16:0) was provided as substrate, it was completely oxidized to CO₂. However, when undecanoic acid (11:0) was added as substrate, incomplete oxidation occurred unless he bubbled CO₂ through the reaction mixture. The addition of the protein avidin, which binds tightly to biotin, prevented the complete oxidation of undecanoic acid even in the presence of CO₂, although it had no effect on palmitate oxidation. Explain these observations in light of what you know of fatty acid oxidation reactions.

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The observations can be explained by the...

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