Chapter 15.2, Problem 1TQ

Summary Introduction

To review:

Catalysis of a competing reaction by RuBisCO (ribulose 1,5 bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase), and the reasons for the failure of researchers to engineer RuBisCO.

Introduction:

Plants that fix carbon dioxide using primarily the Calvin cycle are defined as C3 plants. Carbon dioxide (CO2) interacts with ribulose 1,5- bisphosphate (RuBP) in the first step of the cycle to create two 3-carbon molecules of 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3-PGA). When the concentration of CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the chloroplasts falls below 50ppm (parts per million), the RuBisCo catalyst instead of fixing carbon starts fixing oxygen.