C4 Plants
- Created by: portia
- Created on: 25-04-17 12:40
Fullscreen
Plants that form two 3C molecules after CO2 combines with RuBP to form a 6C compound during the light independent stage of photosynthesis are called C3 plants
Maize, sorghum and most tropical grasses do something different. The first compound produced in the light independent reaction contains four carbon atoms and are therefore called C4 plants
Avoiding photorespiration
The reason why tropical grasses need something different is because of a problem with the enzyme Rubisco.
- rubisco catalyses the reaction of CO2 with RuBP and unfortunately can also catalyse the reaction of oxygen with RuBP
- this causes less photosynthesis to occur because some of the RuBP is being 'wasted' and less is available to combine with CO2
This unwanted reaction is known…
Comments
No comments have yet been made