5 carbons
The molecular formula is C5 H6 O5 so it it has 5 carbons.
During the second stage of aerobic respiration (Krebs cycle), two carbons are removed in the form of carbon dioxide at each turn of the cycle. This occurs during the conversion of isocitrate to alpha-ketoglutarate and then from alpha-ketoglutarate to succinyl-CoA.
alpha ketoglutarate is essentially a glutamate molecule that has been deaminated.
From the cycle itself, two molecules of CO2 are released. One from Isocitrate to alpha-Ketoglutarate (with an Oxalosuccinate molecule as an intermediate compound), and other in the step from alpha-Ketoglutarate to Succinyl-CoA.
Alpha ketoglutarate
CO2 is produced during the Krebs cycle as a byproduct of decarboxylation reactions that occur when citrate is converted to isocitrate, isocitrate to alpha-ketoglutarate, and alpha-ketoglutarate to succinyl-CoA. These decarboxylation reactions release carbon dioxide as a waste product.
Alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase is the most similar to Pyruvate dehydrogenase because both are part of the α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex, involved in the citric acid cycle and share structural and functional similarities.
Assuming that the Kreb cycle starts with the citrate, the third compound is alpha-ketoglutarate.
The intermediate that would supply the carbon skeleton for the synthesis of a five-carbon amino acid is alpha-ketoglutarate. This intermediate is a key component of the citric acid cycle and can donate its carbon atoms in various biosynthetic pathways for the production of amino acids through transamination reactions.
Isocitrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, and malate are tricarboxylic acids in the citric acid cycle.
6 carbons 6 carbons
There are three (3) chiral carbons in monosodium glutamate (C5H8NO4Na), namely the two carbons on either end, alpha and epsilon, and amino-carbon, beta.