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About 8,100 plant species use C 4 carbon fixation, which represents about 3% of all terrestrial species of plants. [27] [28] All these 8,100 species are angiosperms. C 4 carbon fixation is more common in monocots compared with dicots, with 40% of monocots using the C 4 pathway [clarification needed], compared with only 4.5% of
Maize (Zea mays, Poaceae) is the most widely cultivated C 4 plant.[1]In botany, C 4 carbon fixation is one of three known methods of photosynthesis used by plants. C 4 plants increase their photosynthetic efficiency by reducing or suppressing photorespiration, which mainly occurs under low atmospheric CO 2 concentration, high light, high temperature, drought, and salinity.
Understanding biological carbon fixation is essential for comprehending ecosystem dynamics, climate regulation, and the sustainability of life on Earth. [3] Organisms that grow by fixing carbon, such as most plants and algae, are called autotrophs. These include photoautotrophs (which use sunlight) and lithoautotrophs (which use inorganic ...
As a plant that uses C 4 carbon fixation, maize is a considerably more water-efficient crop than plants that use C 3 carbon fixation such as alfalfa and soybeans. Maize is most sensitive to drought at the time of silk emergence, when the flowers are ready for pollination.
Plants that use the C 4 carbon fixation process chemically fix carbon dioxide in the cells of the mesophyll by adding it to the three-carbon molecule phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), a reaction catalyzed by an enzyme called PEP carboxylase, creating the four-carbon organic acid oxaloacetic acid.
C4 plants have developed the C4 carbon fixation pathway to conserve water loss, thus are more prevalent in hot, sunny, and dry climates. [20] These plants differ from C3 plants because CO 2 is initially converted to a four-carbon molecule, malate, which is shuttled to bundle sheath cells, released back as CO 2 and
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (also known as PEP carboxylase, PEPCase, or PEPC; EC 4.1.1.31, PDB ID: 3ZGE) is an enzyme in the family of carboxy-lyases found in plants and some bacteria that catalyzes the addition of bicarbonate (HCO 3 −) to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to form the four-carbon compound oxaloacetate and inorganic phosphate: [1]
Through photosynthesis, plants use CO 2 from the atmosphere, water from the ground, and energy from the sun to create sugars used for growth and fuel. [22] While using these sugars as fuel releases carbon back into the atmosphere (photorespiration), growth stores carbon in the physical structures of the plant (i.e. leaves, wood, or non-woody stems). [23]