Question
Question: What type of plants use a C4 pathway, where would you find these plants?...
What type of plants use a C4 pathway, where would you find these plants?
Solution
C4 Pathway Definition: -
A metabolic pathway where CO2 is added first to phosphoenolpyruvate by the enzyme, PEP carboxylase, producing the four-carbon compound within mesophyll cells that is later transported to the bundle sheath cells where the CO2 is to be released for use in the Calvin cycle.
Complete answer:
Plants that grow in high temperatures and strong sunlight. C4 plants are modified to circumstances in which the stomata of the leaves (the pores are essential for gas exchange) are partly closed during the day. This occurs at high temperatures and strong sunlight; (partly) closing the stomata in these circumstances prevents loss of water.
C4 plants have an alternative mode of carbon fixation and are thus able to bind higher concentrations of CO2 than the 'normal' C3 plants. Denotation that C4 plants need fewer open stomata to get the CO2 concentrations mandatory for photosynthesis.
There are around 20 families of C4 plants, among which a number of members of the grass family. Other samples are sugarcane and corn.
In order for plants to intake CO2, they have to open edifices called stomata on their leaves, which are pores that permit gas exchange. These plants are called C4 plants, because the first creation of carbon fixation is a 4−carbon compound (instead of a 3−carbon compound as in C3 or normal plants).
Note:
The C4 pathway was revealed by M. D. Hatch and C. R. Slack in 1966. It is also acknowledged as the Hatch-Slack pathway.
In C4 photosynthesis where a four-carbon compound is created, exclusive leaf anatomy allows carbon dioxide to form in 'bundle sheath' cells around Rubisco. This erection brings carbon dioxide straight to Rubisco, successfully removing its connection with oxygen and the need for photorespiration.
C4 plants are more well-organized than C3 due to their high rate of photosynthesis and compact rate of photorespiration. The main enzyme of carbon fixation or Calvin cycle is Rubisco, that is Ribulose Bisphosphate Carboxylase Oxygenase. It has an empathy for both CO2 and O2.