Photosynthesis

Alternative methods of carbon

fixation in hot, arid climates
Your goals
◊ Explain how C4 and CAM plants have
adapted to live in hot, windy climates
 You may want to set up your
notes like this
C3 Plants C4 Plants CAM Plants
 Plant evolutionary history
 Life began in water

 The first plants were aquatic

 Since plants evolved to living out of water,

they have had a hard time dealing with
dehydration
 Plant adaptations
Most adaptations involve some sort of
trade off
For plants, the trade off with
photosynthesis is that they lose water to
the environment through transpiration
 A little plant anatomy
 The openings on leaves are called stomata
 This is where CO2 and O2 can enter and exit
the plant
 Water is also lost through the stomata
 Plants often close the stomata on very hot
days, but CO2 intake is cut off
C3 plants
“3” comes from
the 3-carbon
molecule produ
ced after CO
is fixed 2

Most plants
Fix carbon by
attaching CO2 to RuBP
 C3 Plants
On hot days, they close their stomata
part way
Produce little sugar then
 C3 plants
As the CO2 that the plant does have
gets used up, rubisco will fix O2 instead
and send it into the Calvin cycle instead
of CO2
Peroxisomes & mitochondria split the
new compound and release CO2
This is called photorespiration
Consumes oxygen and
Occurs in the releases CO2
light
Photorespiration
uses ATP but
makes no ATP
Photorespiration
makes no sugars
Photorespiration
decreases
photosynthesis
output
So why would any
plant do this…
Photorespiration may
be an evolutionary
leftover
In early atmosphere,
with little O2, it didn’t
matter if Rubisco had an
affinity for O2
Today, with so much O2
in the atmosphere, it is
inevitable that some O2
will be fixed instead of
 C3 Crop plants
Rice, wheat, soybeans
May lose as much as 50% of the
Carbon fixed in the Calvin Cycle
to photorespiration
 3 Things
What are 3 things you know for sure
about C3 plants?
 C4 plants
C4 plants have
adaptations that
allow them to
minimize the
effects of
photorespiration

Many are
tropical grasses
C4 plants
“4” comes fro
m the 4-carb
compound th on
at is formed
is fixed in C when CO
4 plants
2

Have an alternate
means of fixing
carbon
C4 plants fix carbon
out in the
cytoplasm before it
enters the Calvin
Cycle
 C4 plant adaptations
 1st step is binding CO2 to PEP
(phosphoenolpyruvate) by the enzyme PEP
carboxylase to make a 4-C compound:
oxaloacetate
PEP has a high affinity for CO2 and none for
O2
 2. The 4-carbon compound enters
photosynthetic cells
 CO2 is released from PEP and the Calvin
cycle continues as normal
 This adaptation allows C4 plants to keep a
high concentration of CO2 in the
photosynthetic cells, preventing Rubisco from
binding to O2 instead of CO2
C4 plants thrive in hot
climates where
stomata will be
closed often
Some important C4
plants are sugarcane,
corn, tropical grasses
 3 Things
What are 3 things you know for sure
about C4 plants?
 CAM plants
Another alternate method of carbon
fixation
Common in succulents like cacti
 CAM plants
CAM plants keep stomata closed during
the day to minimize water loss
Only open stomata at night
Closed stomata during the day
means no CO2 entering the
plant during the day
 CAM plants
 When stomata are
open at night, CAM
plants take in CO2 and
fix it to PEP
 This is called
crassulacean acid
metabolism
Crassulaceae
is the
name of the fa
mily of
plants that inc
lude
succulents
 CAM plants
 Cells of CAM plants
store the organic
molecules that CO2 was
fixed to in their
vacuoles until morning
 Light reactions then
produce ATP and
NADPH to drive the
Calvin Cycle
 The CO2 in the organic
molecules is released
for use in the Calvin
Cycle
 CAM plants
Important CAM plants include
pineapple and agave
 3 Things
What are 3 things you know for sure
about CAM plants?
Comparison of C3, C4, and CAM plants
C3 plants C4 plants CAM plants
Tropical grasses
Succulents,
Most plants like corn,
pineapple, agave
sugarcane
Fix carbon in Calvin Fix carbon in Fix carbon at night
cycle - attach CO2 cytoplasm - attach only, fix it to
to RuBP CO2 to PEP organic molecules

Enzyme - Rubisco Enzyme – PEP-ase Enzyme – PEP-ase

Most energy 1/2 way between Best water

efficient method these two conservation

Loses water
through Loses less water Loses least water
photorespiration