CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM
- both synthesis (anabolism) and
degradation or breakdown
(catabolism) of carbohydrates in
plants
Carbohydrate – general ratio of C, H, and
O is 1:2:1. They are polyhydroxy aldehydes
and polyhydroxy ketones.
Importance:
1. Means for the storage of the
energy trapped from light in the
process of photosynthesis
2. Forms supporting tissues of the
plant
3. Provides carbon skeletons for
most, if not all of the organic
compounds that make up the plant
Type of sugars:
1. Reducing sugars – e.g. fructose,
glucose, mannose
2. Non-reducing sugars – e.g.
sucrose, raffinose, stachyose,
verbascose
Classification of carbohydrates based on
complexity in structure:
1. Monosaccharide – least complex
a) Hexoses – 6 carbon atoms;
identical in all physical
properties except optical
rotation.
Optical rotation plane of polarized light
transmitted by pure solution of these mirror
compounds will either rotate to the left
(levorotatory or levorotary) or to the right
(dextrorotatory or dextrorotary)
b) Pentoses – five-carbon
sugar; e.g. D-xylose and
L-arabinose which occur in
plants as constituents of
xylans and arabans are large
polysaccharides with a
structural function in the cell
wall.
• Aldopentoses - have
3 chiral centers
• Ketopentoses - have
2 chiral centers
2. Oligosaccharide – made up of 2 or more
monosaccharide held together by glycosidic
linkages.
• Sucrose – disaccharide,
condensation product of glucose and
fructose; principal form in which
CH2O is transported in higher
plants.
• Maltose – disaccharide that results
from partial degradation of starch α
(1-4); 2 glucose of glycosidic bond
• Cellobiose – disaccharide that
results from partial degradation of
cellulose, made up of β (1,4) glucose
• Raffinose – trisaccharide (glucose,
fructose, galactose)
3. Polysaccharide – complex molecules of
high molecular weight composed of a large
number of monosaccharide joined through
glycosidic bonds; insoluble in water and
lack sweetness
• Starch (C6H10O5) – storage product of
plant
Components:
a. Polysaccharide amylose - a
straight chain polymer of glucose
units linked, produces blue- black
color with iodine
b. Amylopectin – branched
polysaccharide made up of
α-glucose units linked(gives red to
purple color with iodine).
• Cellulose – structural polysaccharide that
yields glucose upon complete
hydrolysis,
- Functional component of cell
wall thus the most abundant
organic compound in the
world. It comprises 20% of
new cell wall and 43% of 2o
wall.
- Important material as it can
only be degraded under most
strenuous chemical
treatment
- No nutrition value because of
lack of chemical reactivity
• Other CH2O
1. Pectic compounds – most abundant in
middle lamella in the form of Ca or
Mg salts of pectic acids.
a. Pure pectic acid - an unbranched
molecule consisting of about 100 α-
galacturonic acid, yields galacturonic
acid molecules on complete
hydrolysis.
b. Pectin - like pectic acid, the
difference is that it only undergoes
esterification of carboxyl groups with
methyl groups. Important in
manufacture of jellies as it can form
gel.
c. Protopectin – insoluble pectic
substances, accumulates in large
quantities in fruits like apple and
pear, converted to pectin and pectic
acid during ripening of fruit.
2. Pentosans – polymers of five-carbon
sugars, e.g. xylan and araban which are
constituents of cell wall matrix, composed of
D-xylose unit
Transformation of CH2O
- results in the production of
C-skeleton which is important in the
construction of proteins, lipids, etc.
1. Phosphorylation – essential feature of
transformation of CH2O. First step in
practically all metabolic reactions involving
sugars. Inorganic phosphate was necessary
for the fermentation of sugar in cell-free
yeast juice.
2. Synthesis and degradation of sucrose
This “fixed” carbon (sucrose and starch) can
be used for:
a. Building new plant parts by using
their C skeletons:
- Amino acids (protein)
- Cell wall (polysaccharides)
- Fatty acids/triglycerides
- Secondary metabolites for
defense (terpenes, alkaloids)
- Nucleic acids (purines,
pyrimidines)
b. ATP synthesis via respiration
(glycolysis, the TCA cycle and
oxidative phosphorylation)
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
General equation:
6𝐶𝑂2 + 12𝐻2𝑂 → 𝐶6𝐻12𝑂6 + 6𝑂2 + 6𝐻2𝑂
Chloroplast
- Discoid or ellipsoidal structure
- Length: 4-6 μm
- Thickness: 1-2 μm
- Bounded by double membrane
called chloroplast envelope
It contains:
- Stroma (fluid)
- Grana (stack of thylakoid)
- Thylakoids (contains chlorophyll)
- Photosystem occurs in
thylakoids
Photosynthesis has two stages
a. Light reaction stage: light dependent
b. Dark reaction stage: light-
independent
A. Light reaction stage (grana)
1. Trapping light energy (Chloroplast)
2. Splitting of water (photolysis) and
release of high energy electrons
3. Electron transfer = generation of
ATP and reducing power as 𝑁𝐴𝐷𝑃𝐻2
- Photosystem I: Chlorophyll A
(P700)
- Photosystem II: Chlorophyll A
(P680)
- Photosystem I (PSI) and
Photosystem II (PSII): contain
chlorophyll; moving electrons from
water to NADP+ to form NADPH
- Electron transport chain: store of
potential energy in the form of a
hydrogen ion gradient in the
thylakoid space
- ATP synthase: uses the energy
generated by the hydrogen ion
gradient to produce ATP
B. Dark reaction stage (stroma)
- Expenditure of energy of ATP and
the reducing power of 𝑁𝐴𝐷𝑃𝐻2 to fix
𝐶𝑂2 in phosphoglyceric acid (PGA)
and reduce it into
Phosphoglyceraldehyde, then
convert it into glucose.
- Occurs in different ways in different
types of plants
- C3: Calvin-Benson Cycle
(tree species)
- C4: Hatch-Slack (agricultural
species)
- CAM: Crassulacean Acid
Metabolism (Crassulaceae)
a. Calvin-Benson Cycle (C3 pathway)
- Cycle performed by plants to fix
carbon from C02 into 3-carbon sugar
- Reactions three main stages:
Carbon fixation, reduction, and
regeneration
- Sometime referred to as
light-independent reactions since it
is not powered by photons of the sun
instead by ATP and NADPH which
are recreated in the light dependent
stage
- Enzyme responsible for fixing
carbon is Rubisco (Ribulose
bisphosphate carboxylase)
b. C4: dicarboxylic acid pathway or
hatch-slack pathway for CO2 fixation
- Phosphoenol pyruvic acid (C3):
CO2 acceptor
- Phosphoenol pyruvic acid
carboxylase (PEP carboxylase):
carboxylating enzyme. High affinity
for CO2 and is not inhibited by O2
- C4 plants are often characterized by
having a leaf anatomy in which
 bundle cells are surrounded by
layers of mesophyll cells.
- photosynthetically more efficient Plant factors
than C3 plants Capacity of enzymatic steps of carbon
fixation and metabolism, Capacity for
Comparison of C3, C4, and CAM photosynthetic electron transport and
phosphorylation, Conductance to CO2
diffusion from outside the plant to the
C3 C4 CAM
chloroplasts, Leaf age
Product Glycer Malate Malate
aldehy Different methods of measuring
de Day and Night photosynthesis
3-phos night 1. Measuring the uptake of CO2
phate
a. Using immobilized algae: in
(G3P)
hydrogen carbonate indicator
Day solution - known as the 'algal
and balls' technique
Night b. Using an IRGA (Infra-red
Gas analyzer): compares the
Anatomy No Bundle No
CO2 concentration in gas
bundle sheet Bundle
sheet sheet passing into a chamber
cell surrounding a leaf/plant and
the CO2 leaving the
# of 2000 - 10000- 100-800 chamber.
stomata 31000 16000 c. Using CO2 Monitor: putting
Photores Up to Not Not the plant in a plastic bag and
piration 40% detectable detecta monitor the CO2
ble concentration in the bag
using a CO2 monitor.
Species Wheat, Sugarcane, Pineapp
rice, corn, le,
2. Measuring the production of O2
cassav sorghum vanilla,
a, trees cacti, a. Bubble counting: oxygen
orchids, measured by counting
bromeli bubbles evolved from
ads pondweed submerged in
dilute sodium or potassium
Factors affecting photosynthesis bicarbonate solution in a
constant temperature bath,
Environmental factors or by using the Audus
Light intensity, Temperature, CO2, Water apparatus
supply, Flooding, Humidity, Soil fertility/ b. Manometric method: Walburg
Mineral nutrients, salinity, Pollution, applied apparatus measures
chemicals changes in gas in a closed
system indicated by a rise or
 fall of liquid (Brodie’s
solution) in the graduated
manometer tube. This rise or
fall is due to change in gas
pressure as a consequence
of gas exchange by the
tissue or organism involved.
3. Measuring the production of
carbohydrates
- A disc is cut out of one side
of a leaf (using a cork borer
against a rubber bung) and
weighed after drying. Weeks
later, a disk is cut out of the
other half of the leaf, dried
and weighed. Increase in
mass of the disc is an
indication of the extra mass
that has been stored in the
leaf.
4. Measuring the increase in dry
mass
- Dry mass is often monitored
by the technique of 'serial
harvests' where several
plants are harvested, dried to
constant weight and weighed
RESPIRATION
specific substrates are oxidized with a
subsequent release of CO2.
General equation:
6𝐻2𝑂 + 𝐶6𝐻12𝑂6 → 6𝐶𝑂2 + 12𝐻2𝑂
Two pathways or types
1. Aerobic respiration: uses
oxygen, ↑ amount of respiration,
cytoplasm and mitochondria, 3
process: Glycolysis, Krebs Cycle,
and electron transport system,
Products: CO2, H20, ATP
2. Anaerobic respiration: without
oxygen; process uses a
respiratory
electron transport chain but does not
use oxygen as the electron acceptors; ↓
amount of energy; cytoplasm only;
Glycolysis and fermentation; Products:
lactic acid, ethyl alcohol, ATP and CO2
Release of energy
1. Oxidation: removal of electrons
accompanied by the removal of
hydrogen
2. Reduction: Addition of electrons
accompanied by the addition of
hydrogen
Three stages of aerobic respiration
1. Glycolysis: breaks glucose into
pyruvic acid, occurs in the
cytoplasm (cytosol)
- Glucose into the cell's
plasma membrane as the
first step in catabolism.
- Cleaved into two,
Glycolysis (glyco=
glucose, lysis= cleave)
- Glucose is converted into
two molecules of pyruvate
- 2 ATP
2. Krebs Cycle: Citric acid cycle of
Tricarboxylic acid (TCA);
completely breaks the remaining
carbon-carbon bond of glucose
molecules, mitochondria
- Formation of pyruvic acid
ends up in a glycolytic
pathway. But if sufficient
oxygen is present,
oxidative decarboxylation
 pyruvic acid takes place to
form acetyl coenzyme A
- 2 ATP

3. Electron transport
system/chain: energy from
reduced co-factors of glycolysis
and Krebs cycle converted ATP.
36 to 38 ATP
- 34 ATP

* Energy stored in glucose and not

consumed during cellular respiration is
lost as heat

ATP Synthase: Enzyme that makes

ATP
- located on the inner membrane of
the mitochondria
- Process of making ATP is called
oxidative phosphorylation
- Entire process of using proton
motive force to make ATP is
called chemiosmosis

Factors affecting respiration

1. Internal factors: Age and
physiological conditions of tissue,
amount of oxidative substrate,
tissue hydration
2. Environmental factors: Soil and
air temperature, gaseous
composition of the soil, available
soil moisture, light, injury and
mechanical disturbances; and
chemicals such as herbicides,
fungicides, insecticides,
fertilizers, and environmental
pollutants