Glycolysis means, literally, the dissolution of sugar.
The process is a series of consecutive chemical conversions that require the participation of eleven different enzymes , most of which have been crystallized and thoroughly studied. Glycolysis begins with a single molecule of glucose and concludes with the production of two molecules of pyruvic acid. Two reactions of the glycolytic sequence proceed with the concomitant production of ATP, thus ATP synthesis is said to be coupled to glycolysis. Hundreds of cellular reactions, particularly those involved in the synthesis of cellular components and those that allow the cell to perform mechanical work, require the participation of ATP as a source of chemical energy. While glycolysis is the primary fuel process for some organisms that do not require oxygen, such as yeast, aerobic organisms can only gain a small portion of their needed energy from this process.