Daphne Nelson

BIOLOGY 1610
Professor Taylor
03/01/2020

Signature Assignment: Concept 8.3 The Calvin’s Cycle Uses the Chemical Energy of ATP
and NADPH to Reduce CO2 to Sugar

I’ve also heard of The Calvin’s Cycle, or second cycle in Photosynthesis, referred to as the “dark
cycle” in an attempt to help differentiate between the initial light reactions cycle in
photosynthesis. Here are a few key items to remember about The Calvin’s Cycle: it’s an
anabolic or endergonic process, meaning that it requires a positive amount of Gibbs Free
energy or ΔG+ in metabolic processes, the “energy sucking” non-spontaneous processes that
occur in organisms. The Calvin’s Cycle wants to use ATP energy while consuming NADPH,
specifically it’s hydrogen molecules, Hydrogen’s high energy unstable properties = wild,
unpaired electrons (p. 173-174).

Before I lose you all, let’s break down one individual calvin’s cycle piece by piece. Or watch this
video that helped me understand this process: ​Nature's smallest factory: The Calvin cycle -
Cathy Symington​ (Don’t get stuck on comparing the numbers in the final products with the
numbers I have below, which came directly from the text. Just focus on how multiple processes
are working together and regenerating products, which will lead to glucose molecule in a
separate process that I touch on at the end).

Phase 1: Let’s start by adding Carbon Dioxide to organic material (AKA ​Carbon Fixation​)(p.
174)
Calvin’s cycle takes one of the three Carbon dioxide molecules and links it to a 5-carbon sugar
called ​Ribulose bisphosphate or RuBP​. Ribulose has a​ personal enzyme ​that goes by the
name ​rubisco,​ a sort of catalytic comrade (because it's an enzyme that binds at RuBP's active
site). ​Rubisco ​is the most commonly found enzyme present on earth found in the chloroplasts
of plants. ​Rubisco​ creates a reaction so wild that it splits ​Ribulose or RuBP​ into two different
pieces right away. (​Ribulose bisphosphate or RuBP is not the same as Rubisco the
enzyme, all though similar. They have similar chemical components, except that
Rubisco's end with Carboxylase/Oxygenase. Remember that enzymes end in “ase”.)​ The
result or product is two 3-phosphoglycerate(s) per each CO2 fixed or attached.

(ABOVE: Carbon Fixing by Rubisco AKA RuBP Carboxylase/Oxygenase, starting with one CO2
molecule and an existing 5 Carbon chain or RuBP. Remember this is happening in 5 other
“departments” at the same time (6 simutaneous Calvin’s cycles, shown BELOW: PHOTO
CREDIT: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UzMaoaXKaM​).

Phase 2: ​Reduction​ (p. 174) remember, just as Leah and Professor Taylor have explained,
(​OIL RIG Oxidation is Loss of an electron and Reduction is Gain of an electron). ​We’re
gaining two electrons from NADPH, more specifically, those two electrons come from the two
Hydrogen atoms in NADPH (The H stands for Hydrogen). Remember that each Hydrogen atom
contains one electron!? Are you picking up what I’m putting down? So the light reactions cycle
from the first phase of Photosynthesis is what donated (or produced) the ATP and NADPH to
fuel this bad boy, Calvin, and his cycle(s).

(NADPH giving his hydrogen’s to two G3P’s AKA 3-bisphosphoglycerate. PHOTO Credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UzMaoaXKaM​ )

We started with three molecules of RuBP, totaling 15 carbons together. After the Rubisco
enzyme catalyzed a reaction by stealing carbon from a CO2 molecule, and NADPH donated two
hydrogens, we now have ​six G3P molecules, ​totaling 18 carbons together. This cycle
happened two other times because the initial input was THREE CO2 molecules, so 3 “Calvin’s
departments” working together. One of the G3P molecules “ghosts” the rest of his fellow G3P
products to live out his life dream of helping out the plant cell. We have​ five​ ​G3P ​molecules left,
starting the final phase so that we may “utilize”, recycle, or ​regenerate ​them, ​turning them into
three molecules of RuBP.

Phase 3: ​Regeneration​ of the CO2 acceptor, AKA ​RuBP ​(p. 174)

How do we turn five G3P’s into three RuBP’s? By spending some more cell currency, or ATP
Energy. This process portion is also complicated in itself, but the molecules are now rearranged
and we start at the beginning taking in three more CO2 molecules. And Calvin's Cycle begins
again! It’s a continuous process (as long as you have light energy, water, and carbon dioxide,
the inputs required for photosynthesis).
 (These images represent the
division and regeneration of all of the G3P molecules after Calvin’s Cycle(s). Same photo credit
source as previous photo source.)

Okay, so where in the world does the glucose come from if not from either two phases of
photosynthesis? Remember that one G3P molecule who ghosted his friends at the end of phase
2? This ambitious molecule became the initial molecule for a pathway (metabolic pathway) that
produced glucose (from two total molecules of G3P). There it is! The sugar that we’ve all been
waiting for!
Neither the Light reactions cycle (first cycle of photosynthesis), nor the Calvin’s cycle made a
true sugar AKA glucose molecule AKA carbohydrate AKA usable energy for us homo sapiens.
However, the entire process of Photosynthesis is an emergent property of the chloroplast,
(assuming it’s still inside of a living plant), because it joins the two processes together (light
reactions and Calvin’s cycle)(p. 174).

Sources: ​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UzMaoaXKaM​ Ted Talks “Nature’s Smallest

Factory” By Cathy Symington

Campbell Biology in Focus Special SLCC Edition (2016/Tiger Cover)