BIOL1XX7

Photosynthesis II
Calvin cycle & CO2 fixation
Assoc Prof Charles Warren
Learning outcomes
• Explain fixation of carbon dioxide in the Calvin Cycle

• Compare carboxylation and oxygenation by Rubisco

• Describe the co-evolution of photosynthesis (C4) and the earth’s

atmosphere over time

• Describe the photosynthesis-transpiration compromise and how the

nexus between photosynthesis and transpiration is broken by CAM
photosynthesis

• Predict how photosynthesis might respond to future climates (LAB

CLASS)
Lecture 10 outline
• Fixation of CO2 in Calvin cycle

• Rubisco’s Achilles heel: oxygenation

• Co-evolution of CO2 fixation and Earth’s

atmosphere

• How does CO2 get into chloroplasts?

 photosynthesis
1st stage 2nd stage
“Light reactions” “Calvin cycle”

Goal:
Goal:
Capture C from air and convert into
Trap sunlight and convert to
sugars using chemical energy
chemical energy for later use
produced in 1st stage
The light and carbon reactions of photosynthesis in chloroplasts of vascular plants
Introducing the most abundant protein on Earth

Rubisco (also called RuBisCO)

Ribulose bis-phosphate
carboxylase/oxygenase
The Calvin cycle proceeds in three stages: carboxylation, reduction, and regeneration
Remember this? Add the Calvin cycle to your schematic of the light reactions

stroma

thylakoid
lumen
The carboxylation and oxygenation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate by rubisco
 Photorespiration
(AKA C2 cycle or oxidative photosynthetic carbon cycle)
 BIOL1XX7
Photosynthesis II
Co-evolution of CO2 fixation and Earth’s atmosphere
&
Movement of CO2 into chloroplasts

Assoc Prof Charles Warren

Co-evolution of CO2 fixation pathways with Earth’s atmosphere

The lab class will explore how climate change affects photosynthesis and respiration
C4 photosynthesis
• In all photosynthetic organisms, only Rubisco catalyzes the net fixation
of CO2 into organic molecules

• C4 is a series of metabolic and structural adjustments exploiting

phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPCase) and other existing
enzymes to concentrate CO2 around Rubisco

• There are several versions of C4 (not surprising given that it evolved in

at least 66 lineages of angiosperms, appearing in 19 unrelated plant
families)
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis

• Solves photorespiration

• Leads to higher water-use efficiency (than C3 or C4), but what is

water-use efficiency?

• How and why is water loss from leaves related to CO2 uptake?
How does CO2 get into chloroplasts?
 Light-saturated net photosynthesis of well-watered wheat plants
(week2, BIOL3020 data)

Photosynthesis Transpiration Water-use efficiency

(µmol CO2 m-2 s-1) (mmol H2O m-2 s-1) (mol CO2 mol H2O-1)

mean 17.9 2.4 ?

n 12 12

sd 2.1 0.4
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis
Resources
Light reactions (non-cyclic only) & C3 photosynthesis
https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/8-
introduction

Calvin Cycle Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GpGGHGG6TU

C4 and CAM photosynthesis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c72_Xbj-Jpw