Reductive pentose phosphate cycle

Wolosiuk, R., Ballicora, M., Hagelin, K. (1993) The reductive pentose phosphate cycle for photosynthetic C02 assimilation enzyme modulation. FAS EB J. 7, 622-637. 

The reactions enclosed within the shaded box of Fig. 17-14 do not give the whole story about the coupling mechanism. A phospho group was transferred from ATP in step a and to complete the hydrolysis it must be removed in some future step. This is indicated in a general way in Fig. 17-14 by the reaction steps d, e, and/. Step/represents the action of specific phosphatases that remove phospho groups from the seven-carbon sedoheptulose bisphosphate and from fructose bisphosphate. In either case the resulting ketose monophosphate reacts with an aldose (via transketolase, step g) to regenerate ribulose 5-phosphate, the C02 acceptor. The overall reductive pentose phosphate cycle (Fig. 17-14B) is easy to understand as a reversal of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in which the oxidative decarboxylation system of Eq. 17-12 is... 

Figure 17-14 (A) The reductive carboxylation system used in reductive pentose phosphate pathway (Calvin-Benson cycle). The essential reactions of this system are enclosed within the dashed box. Typical subsequent reactions follow. The phosphatase action completes the phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cycle. (B) The reductive pentose phosphate cycle arranged to show the combining of three C02 molecules to form one molecule of triose phosphate. Abbreviations are RCS, reductive carboxylation system (from above) A, aldolase, Pase, specific phosphatase and TK, transketolase.

Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle (reductive pentose phosphate cycle) 9 6 NAD(P)H RubisCO C02 3 - Phosphogly cerate RubisCO Phosphoribulokinase... 

The reductive pentose phosphate cycle is the only fundamental carboxylating mechanism in plants. In C3 plants the entire process of photosynthesis (the light reactions and the RPP cycle) occurs within chloroplasts. The enzymes catalysing steps in the RPP cycle are water-soluble and are located in the soluble portion (chloroplast stroma or extract). 

Fig. 1. The reductive pentose phosphate cycle (RPP). The solid lines indicate reactions of the RPP cycle. The number of lines per arrow indicates the number of times each reaction occurs for one complete turn of the cycle in which three molecules of COj are converted to one molecule of G3P. Each reaction of the cycle occurs at least once. The double dashed lines indicate the principal reactions removing intermediate compounds of the cycle for biosynthesis. Abbreviations RuBP, ribulose 1,5-bis-phosphate PGA, 3-phosphoglycerate DPGA, 1,3-diphosphoglycerate, FBP, fructose 1,6-bisphos-phate F6P, fructose 6-phosphate SBP, sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate S7P, sedoheptulose 7-phosphate Xu5P, xylulose 5-phosphate R5P, ribose 5-phosphate Ru5P, ribulose 5-phosphate TPP, thiamine pyrophosphate. From Ref. 1.

In summary, current evidence [39-41] is thus consistent with the view that the ferredoxin/thioredoxin system functions in photosynthetically diverse types of plants as a master switch to restrict the activity of degradatory enzymes and activate biosynthetic enzymes in the light. It is significant that enzymes controlled by the ferredoxin/thioredoxin system (FBPase, SBPase, NADP-G3PDH, and PRK) function in the regenerative phase of the reductive pentose phosphate cycle that is needed to sustain its continued operation - i.e, to regenerate the carbon dioxide acceptor, Rbu-1,5-P2, from newly formed 3-PGA. It seems likely that one of these thioredoxin-linked enzymes limits the regeneration of Rbu-1,5-P2. 

The Calvin cycle or reductive pentose phosphate cycle occurs in all green plants and many microorganisms. Carboxylation is catalyzed by ribulose-bis-phosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco). Rubisco also functions as an oxygenase during photorespiration, but its affinity for O2 is 20-80 times lower than for CO2. As with most enzymes, Rubisco has a preference for lighter stable isotopes and CO2 fixation results in the depletion of C (5 C) ranging from —10%o to —2Q%c. 

The lithoautotrophs have to form cellular materials from carbon dioxide. The process to change carbon dioxide into organic compounds is called fixation of carbon dioxide. On the basis of the knowledge to date, all algae and cyanobacteria, and many of the plants, fix carbon dioxide through the Calvin-Benson cycle (or reductive pentose phosphate cycle) (Bassham et al., 1954), while the plants of 20 families and 1200 species have been known to fix carbon dioxide through the Hatch-Slack pathway (or C4 dicarboxylate pathway) (Hatch et al., 1967). 

Calvin-Benson Cycle (Reductive Pentose Phosphate Cycle)... 

The incorporation of COz into carbohydrate by eukaryotic photosynthesizing organisms, a process that occurs within chloroplast stroma, is often referred to as the Calvin cycle. Because the reactions of the Calvin cycle can occur without light if sufficient ATP and NADPH are supplied, they have often been called the dark reactions. The name dark reactions is somewhat misleading, however. The Calvin cycle reactions typically occur only when the plant is illuminated, because ATP and NADPH are produced by the light reactions. Therefore light-independent reactions is a more appropriate term. Because of the types of reactions that occur in the Calvin cycle, it is also referred to as the reductive pentose phosphate cycle (RPP cycle) and the photo synthetic carbon reduction cycle (PCR cycle). 

Calvin cycle, reductive pentose phosphate cycle, photosyuthetlc carbon reduction cycle a series of 13 enzyme-catalysed reactions, occurring in the chloro-plast stroma in plants or the cytoplasm in photosyn-thetic bacteria, which are organized into a cycle, the purpose of which is to convert CO2 into carbohydrate using the reduced pyridine nucleotide (NADPH in plants, NADH in photosynthetic bacteria) and ATP generated in the Ught phase of photosynthesis (see Photosynthesis). The cycle was di vered by Melvin Calvin, research that earned him the Nobel Prize for... 

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