[1]

DESCRIBE THE CARBONE FIXATION PROCESS OF C3

PATHWAY

The C3 cycle is the universal CO2-fixing cycle present in all co2- fixing photosynthetic

organisms. It is located in the chloroplast stroma. The CO2-fixing enzyme of this cycle is

Rubisco (ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase). Rubisco catalyses the reaction of

CO2 with the 5-carbon (5-C) phosphorylated sugar, ribulose-1, 5-bisphosphate (RuBp), the CO2

accepter. The resulting 6-C compound immediately splits into two molecules of

phosphoglycerate, PGA and the PGA is reduced to triose (3-C, or C3) sugar in reactions utilizing

the products of the light reactions, ATP and NADPH:

CO2+RuBP 2PGA

And

2PGA + 2ATP + 2NADPH 2C3 + 2ADP + SNADP+

The name of the cycle derives from the fact that the first stable products are three-carbon

compounds. Some of the sugar formed is withdrawn as C gain from the cycle and many be

further processed to starch; the rest is recycled to replenish the accepter RuBP, using one more

molecule of ATP for every molecule of CO2 fixed. The overall stoichiometry is therefore

1 CO2: 3 ATP: 2 NADPH

A plant which fixes CO2 exclusively by the C3 cycle is known as a C3 plant. The great majority

of flowering plant species are C3 plants. Export of carbohydrate from the chloroplast is mainly

as triose phosphate, which is exchanged across the inner envelope membrane for Pi from the

cytosol by a specific transport protein, the phosphate translocator.

[2]
Whilst carbohydrate is the main photosynthetic product in flowering plants, a proportion of the

C3 cycle intermediate is channeled into the synthesis of amino acids and lipids

Photorespiration

The net rate or amount of CO2 fixation is given by the difference between photosynthesis

fixation and respiratory loss:

Net photosynthesis = total (gross) photosynthesis -respiration

When the leaf respiration rates are measured in the dark, they are low compared with net rate of

photosynthesis under favorable conditions of PFD, CO2 concentration and temperature. Accurate

values for the respiration rate of a photosynthesizing organ in the light are very difficult to

obtain, for while respiration utilizes O2 and evolves CO2, photosynthesis utilizes CO2 and

evolves O2. Estimates can be made by the use of isotopes; for instance, radioactive 14CO2 can

be supplied for photosynthesis, while respiration is evolving unlabelled CO2. By such means it

has been found that in photosynthetic tissues of C3 plants, respiration is strongly stimulated by

light. The light stimulated respiration does not follow the same biochemical pathways as the

“Dark “respiration proceeding in all organs in darkness and light. It is a distinct

photorespiration, involving a special organelle, the peroxisome, in addition to chloroplasts and

mitochondria. The substrate is the newly fixed organic carbon, and a considerable loss of

photosynthate can occur. Photorespiration can reduce net photosynthesis by up to 15-25%

reductions are commonly quoted

[3]
[4]