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Describe the C3 cycle of carbon fixation in plants. |
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Answer» (a) C3 or Calvin cycle proceeds in three stages Carboxylation, Reduction and Regeneration. (b) Carboxylation is the first stage and involves fixation of CO2 into a stable organic intermediate. (c) In plants, atmospheric CO2 enters the mesophyll layer of leaves by passing through pores on the leaf surface called stomata. It can then diffuse into mesophyll cells, and into the stroma of chloroplasts, where the Calvin cycle takes place. (d) In the first step of the cycle, an enzyme RUBisCo (RuBP carboxylase-oxygenase) catalyzes attachment of CO2 to a five-carbon sugar called Ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP). (e) The resulting 6-carbon molecule is unstable, however, and quickly splits into two molecules of a three-carbon compound called 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PGA). Thus, for each CO2 that enters the cycle, two 3-PGA molecules are produced. |
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