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. 1975 May;55(5):835–844. doi: 10.1104/pp.55.5.835

C4 Photosynthesis: Light-dependent CO2 Fixation by Mesophyll Cells, Protoplasts, and Protoplast Extracts of Digitaria sanguinalis1

Steven C Huber a, Gerald E Edwards a
PMCID: PMC541719  PMID: 16659177

Abstract

Mesophyll cells, protoplasts, and protoplast extracts of Digitaria sanguinalis were used for comparative studies of light-dependent CO2 fixation. CO2 fixation was low without the addition of organic substrates. Pyruvate, oxaloacetate, and 3-phosphoglycerate induced relatively low rates (10 to 90 μmoles/mg chlorophyll·hr) of CO2 fixation when added separately. However, a highly synergistic relationship was found between pyruvate + oxaloacetate and pyruvate + 3-phosphoglycerate for inducing light-dependent CO2 fixation in the mesophyll preparations. Highest rates of CO2 fixation were obtained with protoplast extracts. Pyruvate, in combination with oxaloacetate or 3-phosphoglycerate induced light-dependent rates from 150 to 380 μmoles of CO2 fixed/mg chlorophyll·hr which are equivalent to or exceed reported rates of whole leaf photosynthesis in C4 species. Concentrations of various substrates required to give half-maximum velocities of CO2 fixation were determined, with the protoplast extracts generally saturating at the lowest substrate concentrations. Chloroplasts separated from protoplast extracts showed little capacity for CO2 fixation. The results suggest that CO2 fixation in C4 mesophyll cells is dependent on chloroplasts and extrachloroplastic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase.

The stimulation of pyruvate-induced CO2 fixation by oxaloacetate and 3-phosphoglycerate is thought to be due to induction of noncyclic electron transport which generates ATP for the conversion of pyruvate to phosphoenolpyruvate by pyruvate Pi dikinase. The primary products of the substrate-induced CO2 fixation were oxaloacetate and malate, which provides further evidence for carbon fixation through the β-carboxylation pathway. High rates of light-dependent CO2 fixation with a significant percentage of 14C fixed into malate suggest an efficient operation of both photosystems I and II.

The substrate inductions are discussed with respect to the proposed role of the mesophyll cell in C4 photosynthesis, and schemes suggesting the stoichiometry of energy requirements for photosynthetic carbon metabolism in C4 mesophyll cells are presented.

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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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