Question

HMP shunt was discovered by
A) Horecker and coworkers
B) Warburg and Dickens
C) Blackman
D) M. Calvin

Answer 1

The hexose monophosphate shunt (HMP), also known as the pentose phosphate pathway. It is an alternative pathway to glycolysis. It is used to produce ribose - 5 - phosphate and NADPH.

Complete answer:
The HMP shunt is an alternative pathway to glycolysis and is used to produce ribose-5-phosphate and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). It occurs in the cytoplasm. It consists of two irreversible oxidative reactions and a series of reversible sugar-phosphate conversions. Let us analyze each given option to find out the correct answer.

Option A: Horecker and coworkers gave a revised pentose phosphate pathway. Therefore, this is an incorrect option.
Option B: Hexose Monophosphate Pathway (HMP) is an alternative pathway of glucose breakdown found in animal tissues like the liver, mammary glands, adrenal cortex, leucocytes, and in many plant tissues. This pathway was first discovered by Warburg et. al. (1953) and Dickens (1938). It is also known as the pentose phosphate pathway, which is a unique pathway used to create essential products in the body. This pathway is also referred to as shunt as it involves some reactions of the glycolytic pathway and therefore has been viewed as a shunt of glycolysis. Therefore, this is the correct option.
Option C: Blackman (1905) proposed the principle of limiting factors. According to this principle, the rate of photosynthesis controlled by several factors is only as rapid as the slowest factor permits. According to this law, when a process depends on a number of factors, its rate is limited by the pace of the slowest factor. Therefore, this is an incorrect option.
Option D: M. Calvin was an American biochemist. He received the 1961 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his discovery of the chemical pathways of photosynthesis. The Calvin cycle is organized into three basic stages: fixation, reduction, and regeneration. Therefore, this is an incorrect option.

Thus, the correct answer is option (B) Warburg and Dickens.

Note: The importance of HMP shunt are,

It is to be noted that it generates NADPH and pentoses (5-carbon sugars) as well as ribose 5-phosphate, a precursor for the synthesis of nucleotides.
The hexoses are coveted into pentoses out of which the most important one is ribose - 5 - phosphate