C3 Carbon Reduction Cycle

Christine A Raines, University of Essex, UK
Julie C Lloyd, University of Essex, UK

Published online: September 2007

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0001314.pub2

The C3 carbon reduction cycle is the primary pathway of carbon fixation in all photosynthetic organisms, reducing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form carbohydrates and in higher plants it takes place in the chloroplast stroma.

Keywords: Calvin cycle; photosynthesis; light regulation; thioredoxin; Rubisco

Figure 1. Reactions of the C3 cycle. The enzymes catalysing each step are ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco), phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK), glyceraldehydes 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), aldolase (ALD), fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (FBP), transketolase (TK), sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphatase (SBP), ribulose phosphate epimerase (RPE), ribose 5-phosphate isomerase (RPI) and phosphoribulokinase (PRK).
Figure 2. Ferredoxin/thioredoxin-mediated light regulation of enzyme activity. Ferredoxin is reduced by electrons from the photosynthetic electron transport chain and in turn the enzyme ferredoxin/thioredoxin reductase brings about the reduction of thioredoxin f. Finally, reduced thioredoxin f activates the target enzyme by reducing a disulfide bridge between two cysteine residues, forming two thiol groups.
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    book Heldt HW (1997) "Photosynthetic carbon dioxide assimilation by the Calvin cycle". In: Plant Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, pp. 148–165. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    Jensen RG (2004) Activation of Rubisco controls carbon dioxide assimilation in light: a perspective on its discovery. Photosynthesis Research 82: 187–193.
    book Taiz L and Zeiger E (2006) "Photosynthesis: the carbon reactions". In: Plant Physiology, 4th edn, chap. 8. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates Inc.
    Tyagi AK and Gaur T (2003) Light regulation of nuclear photosynthetic genes in higher plants. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 22: 417–452.

Related Sub-Topics:

Plant Genetics and Molecular Biology | Proteins: Structure, Function, Metabolism | Enzymes: Structure and Action Mechanism | Photosynthesis
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Article Title: C3 Carbon Reduction Cycle
 
How to Cite close
Raines, Christine A, and Lloyd, Julie C(Sep 2007) C3 Carbon Reduction Cycle. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0001314.pub2]