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. 1966 Oct;101(1):103–111. doi: 10.1042/bj1010103

Photosynthesis by sugar-cane leaves

A new carboxylation reaction and the pathway of sugar formation

M D Hatch 1, C R Slack 1
PMCID: PMC1270070  PMID: 5971771

Abstract

1. Radioactive products in detached leaf segments were examined after periods of steady-state photosynthesis in 14CO2. 2. After exposure to 14CO2 for approx. 1sec. more than 93% of the fixed radioactivity was located in malate, aspartate and oxaloacetate. After longer periods large proportions of the radioactivity appeared in 3-phosphoglycerate, hexose monophosphates and sucrose. Similar results were obtained with leaves still attached to the plant. 3. Radioactivity appeared first in C-4 of the dicarboxylic acids and C-1 of 3-phosphoglycerate. The labelling pattern in hexoses was consistent with their formation from 3-phosphoglycerate. 4. The reaction giving rise to C4 dicarboxylic acid appears to be the only quantitatively significant carboxylation reaction. 5. Evidence is provided that the radioactivity incorporated into the C4 dicarboxylic acid pool is transferred to sugars via 3-phosphoglycerate. A scheme is proposed to account for these observations.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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