Calvin Cycle and

Photorespiration
 Calvin Cycle
• Where does the Calvin Cycle occur?
• In the stroma
• What goes into the Calvin Cycle?
• ATP, NADPH, Carbon Dioxide
• What comes out of the Calvin Cycle?
• Sugar, ADP, NADP+
The G3P
made in the
Calvin Cycle
is involved
in the
biosynthesis
of other
organic
molecules
 Rate of Photosynthesis
• What is a rate?
• It is the activity per unit time.
• What factors can affect the
photosynthetic rate?
The Effect of Light Intensity on
Photosynthetic Rate
The Effect of Temperature on
Photosynthetic Rate
 The Effect of Light Intensity and
Temperature on Photosynthetic Rate

Which is
the
limiting
factor
here;
light
intensity
or
temp.?
 Oxygen Concentration

What would a graph for increasing levels of CO2 look like?

 Why Does Oxygen Effect
Photosynthetic Rate?
• What is the role of rubisco?
• Rubisco incorporates carbon dioxide into the
RuBP during the Calvin cycle.
• Rubisco, however, has an active site that
accommodates both oxygen and carbon dioxide.
• What happens when rubisco incorporates
oxygen into the RuBP molecule?
 Photorespiration
• The overall rate of photosynthesis
decreases.
• Both photorespiration and
photosynthesis occur at the same time
 Conditions for Photorespiration
• What conditions will lead to a lot of
photorespiration?
• Hot
• Dry
• Sunny
• What happens to stomates under such
conditions?
• They close.
 Evolution
• Why does rubisco bind both oxygen
and carbon dioxide?
• When Calvin Cycle evolved there was
little oxygen in the atmosphere.
 Solutions
• What solutions have some plants found
for this problem?
• C4 Pathway.
• Sugarcane, corn, crabgrass have all
evolved a different structure that
minimizes photorespiration.
What is the new structure?
 The bundle sheath
cells!

How do the bundle sheath cells minimize photorespiration?

 C3 vs. C4 plants
• When do C4 plants outcompete C3 plants?
• Under the hot, dry, sunny conditions that
favor photorespiration.
• C4 plants have evolved in these hot, warm
climates.
• What happens to acid levels in a C4 plant,
as compared to a C3 plant during the day?
 CAM Plants
• At night, stomata open, take in CO2,
incorporate it into organic acids and store
those acids in vacuoles until daylight
• during the day, stomates close
• The organic acids stored at night, break down,
release CO2 and rubisco incorporates it into
sugar.
• C4 plants use a new structure to solve
the photorespiration problem.
• CAM plants use time to solve the
photorespiration problem.