Undergraduate Level Notes. Compensation Point Can also do this as a drawdown graph. An important physiological parameter in comparing C3 and C4 photosynthesis.

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Advertisements

Physiological ecology of C4 vs C3
AP Biology Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme.
Plant Physiology 2- Photosynthesis. photosynthesis Photo means ‘light’ and synthesis means ‘to make’ Process in which plants convert carbon dioxide and.
Plant Biology Fall 2006 BISC Plant Physiology Lab Spring 2009 Notices: The photosynthesis labs are running again this week Reading material (Taiz.
AP Biology Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme.
PACKET #34 CHAPTER #10 Photorespiration. Introduction In the 1960’s, it was discovered that illuminated plants consume and use O 2 and produce CO 2. With.
How do photoautotrophs use light to make their own food?
5 Coping with Environmental Variation: Energy. 5 Coping with Environmental Variation: Energy Sources of Energy Autotrophy Photosynthetic Pathways Heterotrophy.
Chapter 10. Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Plant Ecology - Chapter 2 Photosynthesis & Light: part 3.
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme (Ch. 10)
AP Biology Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme.
Key Area 2: Photosynthesis and Energy Transfer
Photosynthesis Part II:
Photosynthesis part II – carbon fixation
I. Photorespiration II. CO 2 concentrating mechanisms - variation on the “C3” photosynthetic metabolism.
Rubisco (Triose-phosphate) CALVIN CYCLE: NET REACTION 6CO H NADPH + 18ATP  Fructose-6-phosphate + 12 NADP + + 6H ADP 17 P.
Lecture 4 Ecology Ralph Kirby. Photosynthesis All life on Earth is carbon based CO 2 was the major form of free carbon available in past and still is.
Fig. 8.2 The Calvin Cycle (reductive pentose phosphate cycle) 3 Stages Carboxylation Reduction Regeneration A 3 carbon molecule An outline of C3 photosynthesis.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS Variations on a Theme WHAT DO PLANTS NEED? Photosynthesis Light reactions Light H 2 O Calvin cycle CO 2 O O C  sun  ground  air What.
Alternative Methods of Carbon Fixation Photorespiration & C 3 Plants Photorespiration & C 3 Plants C 4 Photosynthesis & Plants C 4 Photosynthesis & Plants.
The Calvin Cycle The Calvin Cycle is much like the Citric Acid Cycle in that the circular process regenerates the starting molecule at the end of the cycle.
Undergraduate level notes. 1 – Limitations of RuBisCO Slow enzyme: catalytic turnover of ca.3 molecules s billion years old – evolved before atmosphere.
AP Biology Remember what plants need…  Photosynthesis  light reactions  light H2OH2O  Calvin cycle  CO 2 What structures have plants evolved to.
The Dark Reaction - - light-independent - - energy stored in ATP and NADPH (from light reaction) is used to reduce CO 2 to sugar.
Photosynthesis Photosynthesis in Overview Process by which plants and other autotrophs store the energy of sunlight into sugars. Requires sunlight, water,
Processes affected by CO 2 1) Pathways that consume CO 2 2) pathways that release CO 2 3) transpiration & stomatal number.
AP Biology Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme.
AP Biology Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme.
11/13/13 Today  Finish Photosynthesis Lecture (The Calvin Cycle) & Complete Overview Chart Tomorrow  Start AP Photosynthesis Lab.
Alternative Mechanisms of Carbon Fixation (5.4). RuBisCO RuBisCO is the most abundant protein on Earth catalyzes the first reaction of the Calvin cycle.
Conflicting requirements in plants Water regulation in plants How do organisms ‘solve’ common problems? –Water lost by transpiration through stomata –If.
Variations in Photosynthesis Lecture 9 Fall 2008.
Photosynthesis: An Overview
PACKET #31 CHAPTER #10 Photorespiration. Introduction Plants that use the Calvin Cycle to fix carbon, in the molecule sugar, are called C 3 plants. During.
Photosynthesis Photosynthesis: CO 2 + H 2 O + Energy  CH 2 O + O 2 + H 2 O Photosynthesis is a balance between competing processes.
Photosynthesis: A Recap 1 Based on this equation, how could the rate of photosynthesis be measured? The photosynthetic equation: light Excites electrons.
C4 Photosynthesis AP Biology Unit 4 Review: C3 Photosynthesis During “regular” photosynthesis, CO 2 is trapped into a 3-carbon compound by Rubisco 
 Determine how the plant utilizes the energy from the light dependent reactions to build sugars from CO 2.  Identify some common adaptations to this.
AP Biology Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme.
Carbon Fixation & Plant Diversity. Carbon Fixation Reactions Forming organic molecules from CO 2.
Photosynthesis- The Basis for Life on Earth Part II.
Fig Light Reactions: Photosystem II Electron transport chain Photosystem I Electron transport chain CO 2 NADP + ADP P i + RuBP 3-Phosphoglycerate.
School of Sciences, Lautoka Campus BIO509 Lecture 25: Photorespiration
Chapter 10. Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Photosynthesis Carbon dioxide + water glucose + oxygen sunlight
Rate of Photosynthesis in Response to Differing Percentages of Atmospheric Oxygen.
8. Photosynthesis: “Dark Reactions” (continued)
Variations of Photosynthesis
ADAPTIONS TO TEMPERATURE AND DROUGHT
The Calvin Cycle: Light Independent Reactions
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
C4 Photosynthesis AP Biology Unit 4.
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Agenda: Bell Ringer Notes over C4 and CAM plants
Plant Physiology 2- Photosynthesis
Alternative Methods of Carbon Fixation
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Alternatives in carbon fixation Page
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
chlorophyll in chloroplasts
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Photosynthesis: Variations on the Theme
Alternative Methods of Carbon Fixation
Presentation transcript:

Undergraduate Level Notes

Compensation Point Can also do this as a drawdown graph. An important physiological parameter in comparing C3 and C4 photosynthesis is the compensation point, Γ. Γ is effectively the CO 2 concentration at which there is no net uptake (or loss) of CO 2, because CO 2 fixation = respiratory and photorespiratory release of CO 2. By putting a plant under different CO 2 concentrations and measuring the initial rate at which it assimilates CO 2, we can produce a graph like this. 100ppm 200ppm 300ppm

The compensation point is the x intercept, the concentration of CO 2 when there is no net flux of CO 2 from the plant. C4 plants have a lower Γ than C3 plants – i.e can have a net uptake of carbon at a lower concentration of CO 2 – because photorespiration is suppressed by the CCM.

Advantages of C4 Allows RuBisCO to perform close to its V max (for RuBP carboxylation) by concentrating CO 2 around it to 1-2% (cf. 0.04% atmospheric), so reducing wasteful photorespiration (more detail in “Why do Plants and Algae need CCMs?”). This is represented by C4 plants having a lower Γ than C3 plants, as shown above (ca. 10 ppm, cf ppm in C3 plants)

Advantages of C4 Greater water use efficiency – that is, due to a greater efficiency in assimilating carbon, the same amount of fixation can be achieved by a C4 plant as a C3 plant with less stomatal opening and thus less water loss. In other words a C4 plant assimilates more molecules of CO 2 per unit water lost than does a C3 plant. So why don’t C4 plants completely outcompete C3 plants?

Costs of C4 Higher energetic demand of C4 pathway: fixing carbon twice requires 30 ATP to generate the equivalent of 1 glucose (i.e. there is a cost in regenerating PEP), compared to 18 ATP used by the Calvin cycle alone in C3 photosynthesis. Thus, while C3 entails costs associated with photorespiration, C4 entails energetic costs associated with “double fixation” and regenerating PEP – this leads to an interesting ecological trade-off.

Trade-Offs Different environmental conditions tip the balances of costs and benefits in favour of C4 or C3 photosynthesis. The oxygenase activity of RuBisCO, which creates the need for wasteful photorespiration – the greatest cost to C3 photosynthesis – increases with temperature. At low temperatures, photorespiration is therefore less of a problem, so the energetic costs of C4 outweigh the photorespiratory costs of C3, favouring C3 photosynthesis.

Trade-Offs As the temperature increases, oxygenase activity of RuBisCO increases at a greater rate than does the carboxylase activity (e.g. from 20°C–30°C, carboxylase activity doubles, but oxygenase activity trebles) Furthermore, CO 2 solubility decreases as temperature increases, resulting in a lower effective concentration around RuBisCO. Therefore at higher temperatures, the balance of benefits and costs swings in favour of C4.

Trade-Offs There is of course a cross over range: at temperatures of around 20°–25°, the energetic costs of C3 and C4 processes are similar: around 5ATP and 2NADPH per CO 2 assimilated, including the respective costs of photorespiration and PEP regeneration. These temperature-dependent trade offs have important consequences for the distribution and diversity of C4 plants.

Geographic distribution of C4 Given the above, it should be no surprise that C4 plants evolved in the warm tropics (note that C4 has evolved independently, and convergently, many times in different plant families). However, like anything in biology, there are no steadfast rules with the distribution of C4 and C3 plants: the relative ecological successes of different plants depend on far more physiological factors than just the mechanism of carbon fixation they employ. As such, C4 plants are not resticted to the tropics, and can be found in temperate regions, just as C3 plants are found in the tropics. Redrawn from A History of Atmospheric CO2 and Its Effects on Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems, Volume 177, J.R. Ehleringer, T. E. Cerling, M. Dearing

Phylogenetic Distribution of C4 C4 photosynthesis is found in only around 3% of terrestrial plant species, and about 5% terrestrial plant biomass, but accounts for up to 30% terrestrial C fixation species C4 – all Angiosperms (flowering plants) 15 families of Dicot and 3 Monocot – but 40% Monocot species, cf. 4.5% Dicot species. Includes crop plants maize, sorghum, millet, sugar cane, as well as many of the worst weeds. Papyrus, a C4 sedge. American Wormseed, a C4 Caryophyllales weed.

Summary C4 plants have a lower compensation point than C3 plants. Multiple costs and benefits trade off under different environmental conditions such that neither C3 or C4 is always the better strategy. These trade-offs determine the geographical distibution of C4 plants. C4 has evolved many times independently amongst both Monocot and Dicot families.