Biology Unit 2

Photosynthesis: C3, C4 and CAM Plants

Name: Charnell Newell Form: 13 H Gooden Date:

Table of Content Contents

Table of Content ............................................................................................................................. 2 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Light independent reactions of photosynthesis in C-3 Plants ......................................................... 4 Light independent reactions of photosynthesis in C-4 Plants ......................................................... 5 Light independent reactions of photosynthesis in CAM plants ...................................................... 6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 9

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Abstract

Photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy to chemical energy and storing it in the bonds of sugar. This process occurs in plants and some algae (Kingdom Protista). Plants need only light energy, CO2, and H2O to make sugar. The process of photosynthesis takes place in the chloroplasts, specifically using chlorophyll, the green pigment involved in photosynthesis. The overall chemical reaction involved in photosynthesis is: 6CO2 + 6H2O (+ light energy) C6H12O6 + 6O2. This is the source of the O2 we breathe, and thus, a significant factor in the concerns about deforestation. The light reaction happens in the thylakoid membrane and converts light energy to chemical energy. This chemical reaction must, therefore, take place in the light. The dark reaction takes place in the stroma within the chloroplast, and converts CO2 to sugar. This reaction doesn't directly need light in order to occur, but it does need the products of the light reaction (ATP and another chemical called NADPH). The dark reaction involves a cycle called the Calvin cycle in which CO2 and energy from ATP are used to form sugar. Actually, notice that the first product of photosynthesis is a three-carbon compound called glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. Plants have a special enzyme that can work better, even at very low CO2 levels, to grab CO2 and turn it first into oxaloacetate, which contains four carbons. Thus, these plants are called C4 plants. The CO2 is then released from the oxaloacetate and put into the Calvin cycle. This is why crabgrass can stay green and keep growing when all the rest of your grass is dried up and brown. Some plants (for example, cacti and pineapple) that live in extremely hot, dry areas like deserts, can only safely open their stomates at night when the weather is cool. Thus, there is no chance for them to get the CO2 needed for the dark reaction during the daytime. At night when they can open their stomates and take in CO2, these plants incorporate the CO2 into various organic compounds to store it. In the daytime, when the light reaction is occurring and ATP is available (but the stomates must remain closed), they take the CO2 from these organic compounds and put it into the Calvin cycle. These plants are called CAM plants, which stands for crassulacean acid metabolism after the plant family, Crassulaceae (which includes the garden plant Sedum) where this process was first discovered.

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Light independent reactions of photosynthesis in C-3 Plants

Plants which use only the Calvin cycle for fixing the carbon dioxide from the air are known as C3 plants. In the first step of the cycle CO2 reacts with RuBP to produce two 3-carbon molecules of 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3-PGA). This is the origin of the designation C3 or C3 in the literature for the cycle and for the plants that use this cycle. The entire process, from light energy capture to sugar production occurs within the chloroplast. The light energy is captured by the non-cyclic electron transport process which uses the thylakoid membranes for the required electron transport. About 85% of plant species are C3 plants. They include the cereal grains: wheat, rice, barley, and oats, peanuts, cotton, sugar beets, tobacco, spinach, soybeans, and most trees are C3 plants. Most lawn grasses such as rye and fescue are C3 plants. C3 plants have the disadvantage that in hot dry conditions their photosynthetic efficiency suffers because of a process called photorespiration. When the CO2 concentration in the chloroplasts drops below about 50 ppm, the catalyst rubisco that helps to fix carbon begins to fix oxygen instead. This is highly wasteful of the energy that has been collected from the light, and causes the rubisco to operate at perhaps a quarter of its maximal rate.

Leaf Anatomy of a C3 plant

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Light independent reactions of photosynthesis in C-4 Plants

Some plants have developed a preliminary step to the Calvin Cycle (which is also referred to as a C-3 pathway), this preamble step is known as C-4. While most C-fixation begins with RuBP, C-4 begins with a new molecule, phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), a 3-C chemical that is converted into oxaloacetic acid (OAA, a 4-C chemical) when carbon dioxide is combined with PEP. The OAA is converted to Malic Acid and then transported from the mesophyll cell into the bundle-sheath cell, where OAA is broken down into PEP plus carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide then enters the Calvin Cycle, with PEP returning to the mesophyll cell. The resulting sugars are now adjacent to the leaf veins and can readily be transported throughout the plant. C-4 photosynthsis involves the separation of carbon fixation and carbohydrate systhesis in space and time. The capture of carbon dioxide by PEP is mediated by the enzyme PEP carboxylase, which has a stronger affinity for carbon dioxide than does RuBP carboxylase. When carbon dioxide levels decline below the threshold for RuBP carboxylase, RuBP is catalyzed with oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. The product of that reaction forms glycolic acid, a chemical that can be broken down by photorespiration, producing neither NADH nor ATP, in effect dismantling the Calvin Cycle. C-4 plants, which often grow close together, have had to adjust to decreased levels of carbon dioxide by artificially raising the carbon dioxide concentration in certain cells to prevent photorespiration. C-4 plants evolved in the tropics and are adapted to higher temperatures than are the C-3 plants found at higher latitudes. Common C-4 plants include crabgrass, corn, and sugar cane. Note that OAA and Malic Acid also have functions in other processes, thus the chemicals would have been present in all plants, leading scientists to hypothesize that C-4 mechanisms evolved several times independently in response to a similar environmental condition, a type of evolution known as convergent evolution.

Leaf Anatomy of a C4 plant

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Light independent reactions of photosynthesis in CAM plants

These are also C4 plants but instead of segregating the C4 and C3 pathways in different parts of the leaf, they separate them in time instead. (CAM stands for crassulacean Acid metabolism because it was first studied in members of the plant family Crassulaceae.) At night, CAM plants take in CO2 through their open stomata (they tend to have reduced numbers of them). The CO2 joins with PEP to form the 4-carbon oxaloacetic acid. This is converted to 4 carbon malic acid that accumulates during the night in the central vacuole of the cells.

Oxaloacetate Acid is a variant of oxaloacetate, which is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, as well
as gluconeogenesis. It plants it forms inside of the mesophyll by condensing of carbon dioxide. It is very unstable in solution.

Malic acid is also an intermediate in the citric acid cycle and a source of carbon dioxide in the Calvin Cycle and is produced from the starch in the guard cells. However if there is a large build-up of then water can flow into the guard cells, causing the stoma to open up.
In the morning, The stomata close (thus conserving moisture as well as reducing the inward diffusion of oxygen). The accumulated malic acid leaves the vacuole and is broken down to release CO2. The CO2 is taken up into the Calvin (C3) cycle. These adaptations also enable their owners to thrive in conditions of high daytime temperatures intense sunlight Low soil moisture. Some examples of CAM plants:

Cacti Bryophyllum The pineapple and all epiphytic bromeliads sedums the "ice plant" that grows in sandy parts of the scrub forest biome

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C4 and CAM plants are plants that have a modified form of photosynthesis as an adaptation to particular environmental conditions. Rubisco would add carbon dioxide to the cycle when carbon dioxide levels were high and oxygen levels low. Plants cannot always maintain that situation. In particular, under hot and/or dry conditions, plants must close their stomata in order to conserve water. Dehydration is lethal. However, when stomata are closed, little carbon dioxide can diffuse into the leaf spaces and oxygen produced by photosynthesis cannot easily get out of the leaf. Under these conditions, rubisco catalyzes photorespiration instead--rubisco adds oxygen to RuBP instead of carbon dioxide. This slows down photosynthesis and results in much less photosynthesis. For normal plants, growth is clearly reduced. However C4 and CAM plants use alternate means to get carbon dioxide. C4 plants use a second cycle to bind carbon dioxide and keep carbon dioxide levels high enough to avoid photorespiration on hot days. The extra cycle does use ATP; as a result, the plants growth is slowed some but it definitely out competes plants that cannot use this step. CAM plants, on the other hand, Stores carbon dioxide at night as organic acids and then releases it during the day. This process is often found in desert plants.

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Conclusion
C3 photosynthesis is a multi-step process in which the carbon from CO2 is xed into stable organic products; it occurs in virtually all leaf mesophyll cells. C4 photosynthesis represents a biochemical and morphological modication of C3 photosynthesis to reduce Rubisco oxygenase activity and thereby increase photosynthetic rate in low CO2 environments such as we have today. In C4 plants, the C3 cycle of the photosynthetic pathway is restricted to interior cells within the leaf (usually the bundle sheath cells). C4 photosynthesis is advantageous under low atmospheric CO2 and/or high temperatures.

C3 is best under moist conditions, C4 under warm, sunny, dry conditions, CAM under desert conditions.

Characteristics of Photosynthesis in C3, C4 and CAM plants Characteristic C3 Plant C4 Plant CAM Plant Photorespiration Yes Little none Lower temp limit for 15-25o C 30-40o C -------------------photorespiration Rubisco present Yes Yes Yes PEP Carboxylase present No Yes Yes into OAA via PEP into OAA via PEP carboxylase, then to carboxylase, then to malic acid which directly into malic acid which moves from Initial CO2 fixation Calvin Cycle moves into vacuole mesophyll cell to via Rubisco (during night). bundle sheath cell CO2released from and then releases malate during day. CO2. In mesophyll cell In bundle sheath Secondary CO2 fixation ---------------using Rubisco in cell using Rubisco morning mesophyll Site of Calvin cycle bundle sheath cells mesophyll cells cells mesophyll mostly in mesophyll Site of Light Reactions mesophyll cells cells cells

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Bibliography
Campbell, N. A. (1999). Biology 5th Ed. Cummings Publ. Co. Carter, J. S. (2004, November 2). Photosynthesis. Retrieved October 17, 2012, from File photosyn: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/courses/bio104/photosyn.htm College, M. (n.d.). Photosynthesis - An Overview. Retrieved October 17, 2012, from http://www.marietta.edu/ Ehleringer, J. R., & Cerling, T. E. (2002). C3 and C4 Photosynthesis. (P. A. Mooney, D. G. Canadell, & T. Munn, Eds.) The Earth system: biological and ecological dimensions of global environmental.

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