1. Respiration is considered as a catabolic process; however, it is not entirely correct in case of Krebs cycle.
2. Many reactions of Krebs cycle involve oxidation of acetyl CoA to release energy and CO2.
3. However, the breakdown of respiratory substrates provides intermediates like a-ketoglutarate, oxaloacetate are used as precursors for synthesis of fatty acids, glutamic acid and aspartic acid respectively.
4. Thus, as the same respiratory process acts as catabolic as well as anabolic pathway for synthesis of various intermediate metabolic products, it is called amphibolic pathway.
