Notes on C3 and C4 Phtosynthesis
Subject:
Biology [1]
Notes on C3 Photosynthesis Examples of C3 plants: lilac, wheat, oak trees, rice? These pathways are the ones we already learned: Light reactions Dark reactions (Calvin cycle) The reason we refer to this process as a C3 process is because many of the intermediates in the Calvin Cycle have 3 carbons! ie phosphoglycerate, glyceraldehyde, G3P? But C3 plants have a problem. If it gets too hot, too much water vapor will leave through the stomata and this threatens the plant with dehydration. Plants solve this by closing their stomata. New Problem! This cuts off CO2 from entering the leaf. So oxygen gas increases and CO2 gas decreases. This is an unfavorable gas ratio in the leaf air spaces.