The Calvin Cycle: Carbon Fixation, GP Reduction, and RuBP Regeneration
Students will investigate the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and water, understanding their importance for sustaining life on Earth.
About This Topic
Students will investigate the biogeochemical cycles of carbon and water, understanding their importance for sustaining life on Earth.
Key Questions
- Trace the fate of CO₂ through the three stages of the Calvin cycle, carboxylation of RuBP by RuBisCO, reduction of 3-phosphoglycerate, and regeneration of RuBP, accounting for the stoichiometry of ATP and NADPH consumed per CO₂ fixed.
- Analyse why the Calvin cycle depends on the ATP and NADPH produced in the light-dependent reactions, and predict the immediate and downstream metabolic consequences for the cycle if illumination is abruptly eliminated.
- Evaluate the experimental evidence from Calvin's ¹⁴CO₂ pulse-chase autoradiography experiments that established the sequence of intermediates in the light-independent pathway and identified 3-phosphoglycerate as the first stable product of carbon fixation.
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