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The Calvin cycle, light-independent reactions, bio synthetic phase, dark reactions, or photosynthetic carbon reduction (PCR) cycle of
photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...
is a series of chemical reactions that convert
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...
and hydrogen-carrier compounds into
glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, usi ...
. The Calvin cycle is present in all photosynthetic eukaryotes and also many photosynthetic bacteria. In plants, these reactions occur in the stroma, the fluid-filled region of a
chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it ...
outside the thylakoid membranes. These reactions take the products (
ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...
and NADPH) of
light-dependent reactions Light-dependent reactions is jargon for certain photochemical reactions that are involved in photosynthesis, the main process by which plants acquire energy. There are two light dependent reactions, the first occurs at photosystem II (PSII) and ...
and perform further chemical processes on them. The Calvin cycle uses the chemical energy of ATP and reducing power of NADPH from the light dependent reactions to produce sugars for the plant to use. These substrates are used in a series of reduction-oxidation reactions to produce sugars in a step-wise process; there is no direct reaction that converts several molecules of to a sugar. There are three phases to the light-independent reactions, collectively called the ''Calvin cycle'': carboxylation, reduction reactions, and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) regeneration. Though it is called the "dark reaction", the Calvin cycle does not actually occur in the dark or during night time. This is because the process requires NADPH, which is short-lived and comes from the light-dependent reactions. In the dark, plants instead release
sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refi ...
into the
phloem Phloem (, ) is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made during photosynthesis and known as ''photosynthates'', in particular the sugar sucrose, to the rest of the plant. This transport process is ...
from their
starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...
reserves to provide energy for the plant. The Calvin cycle thus happens when light is available independent of the kind of photosynthesis (
C3 carbon fixation carbon fixation is the most common of three metabolic pathways for carbon fixation in photosynthesis, along with and CAM. This process converts carbon dioxide and ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP, a 5-carbon sugar) into two molecules of 3-phos ...
, C4 carbon fixation, and Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM)); CAM plants store malic acid in their vacuoles every night and release it by day to make this process work.


Coupling to other metabolic pathways

The reactions of the Calvin cycle are closely coupled to the thylakoid electron transport chain as the energy required to reduce the carbon dioxide is provided by NADPH produced during the light dependent reactions. The process of photorespiration, also known as C2 cycle, is also coupled to the Calvin cycle, as it results from an alternative reaction of the
RuBisCO Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCo, rubisco, RuBPCase, or RuBPco, is an enzyme () involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is co ...
enzyme, and its final byproduct is another glyceraldehyde-3-P molecule.


Calvin cycle

The Calvin cycle, Calvin–Benson–Bassham (CBB) cycle, reductive pentose phosphate cycle (RPP cycle) or C3 cycle is a series of biochemical
redox Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate (chemistry), substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of Electron, electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction ...
reactions that take place in the stroma of
chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it ...
in photosynthetic
organism In biology, an organism () is any life, living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy (biology), taxonomy into groups such as Multicellular o ...
s. The cycle was discovered in 1950 by
Melvin Calvin Melvin Ellis Calvin (April 8, 1912 – January 8, 1997) was an American biochemist known for discovering the Calvin cycle along with Andrew Benson and James Bassham, for which he was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He spent most of ...
, James Bassham, and Andrew Benson at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
by using the
radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...
isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers ( mass number ...
carbon-14. Photosynthesis occurs in two stages in a cell. In the first stage, light-dependent reactions capture the energy of light and use it to make the energy-storage molecule
ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...
and the moderate-energy hydrogen carrier NADPH. The Calvin cycle uses these compounds to convert
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...
and
water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...
into
organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon- hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. Th ...
s that can be used by the organism (and by animals that feed on it). This set of reactions is also called ''carbon fixation''. The key
enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...
of the cycle is called
RuBisCO Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCo, rubisco, RuBPCase, or RuBPco, is an enzyme () involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is co ...
. In the following biochemical equations, the chemical species (phosphates and carboxylic acids) exist in equilibria among their various ionized states as governed by the pH. The enzymes in the Calvin cycle are functionally equivalent to most enzymes used in other metabolic pathways such as
gluconeogenesis Gluconeogenesis (GNG) is a metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose from certain non- carbohydrate carbon substrates. It is a ubiquitous process, present in plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms. In verteb ...
and the pentose phosphate pathway, but the enzymes in the Calvin cycle are found in the chloroplast stroma instead of the cell
cytosol The cytosol, also known as cytoplasmic matrix or groundplasm, is one of the liquids found inside cells ( intracellular fluid (ICF)). It is separated into compartments by membranes. For example, the mitochondrial matrix separates the mitochondri ...
, separating the reactions. They are activated in the light (which is why the name "dark reaction" is misleading), and also by products of the light-dependent reaction. These regulatory functions prevent the Calvin cycle from being respired to carbon dioxide. Energy (in the form of ATP) would be wasted in carrying out these reactions when they have no net productivity. The sum of reactions in the Calvin cycle is the following: :3 + 6 NADPH + 6 H+ + 9
ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...
+ 5 → glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) + 6 NADP+ + 9
ADP Adp or ADP may refer to: Aviation * Aéroports de Paris, airport authority for the Parisian region in France * Aeropuertos del Perú, airport operator for airports in northern Peru * SLAF Anuradhapura, an airport in Sri Lanka * Ampara Air ...
+ 8 Pi   (Pi = inorganic
phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...
) Hexose (six-carbon) sugars are not products of the Calvin cycle. Although many texts list a product of photosynthesis as , this is mainly for convenience to match the equation of
aerobic respiration Cellular respiration is the process by which biological fuels are oxidised in the presence of an inorganic electron acceptor such as oxygen to produce large amounts of energy, to drive the bulk production of ATP. Cellular respiration may be des ...
, where six-carbon sugars are oxidized in mitochondria. The carbohydrate products of the Calvin cycle are three-carbon sugar phosphate molecules, or "triose phosphates", namely, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P).


Steps

In the first stage of the Calvin cycle, a molecule is incorporated into one of two three-carbon molecules (
glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, also known as triose phosphate or 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde and abbreviated as G3P, GA3P, GADP, GAP, TP, GALP or PGAL, is a metabolite that occurs as an intermediate in several central pathways of all organisms.Nelson, D ...
or G3P), where it uses up two molecules of
ATP ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...
and two molecules of NADPH, which had been produced in the light-dependent stage. The three steps involved are: # The enzyme
RuBisCO Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCo, rubisco, RuBPCase, or RuBPco, is an enzyme () involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is co ...
catalyses the carboxylation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate, RuBP, a 5-carbon compound, by carbon dioxide (a total of 6 carbons) in a two-step reaction. The product of the first step is enediol-enzyme complex that can capture or . Thus, enediol-enzyme complex is the real carboxylase/oxygenase. The that is captured by enediol in second step produces an unstable six-carbon compound called 2-carboxy 3-keto 1,5-biphosphoribotol (CKABP) (or 3-keto-2-carboxyarabinitol 1,5-bisphosphate) that immediately splits into 2 molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate (also written as 3-phosphoglyceric acid, PGA, 3PGA, or 3-PGA), a 3-carbon compound. # The enzyme phosphoglycerate kinase catalyses the phosphorylation of 3-PGA by ATP (which was produced in the light-dependent stage). 1,3-Bisphosphoglycerate (glycerate-1,3-bisphosphate) and
ADP Adp or ADP may refer to: Aviation * Aéroports de Paris, airport authority for the Parisian region in France * Aeropuertos del Perú, airport operator for airports in northern Peru * SLAF Anuradhapura, an airport in Sri Lanka * Ampara Air ...
are the products. (However, note that two 3-PGAs are produced for every that enters the cycle, so this step utilizes two ATP per fixed.) # The enzyme glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase catalyses the reduction of 1,3BPGA by NADPH (which is another product of the light-dependent stage).
Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, also known as triose phosphate or 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde and abbreviated as G3P, GA3P, GADP, GAP, TP, GALP or PGAL, is a metabolite that occurs as an intermediate in several central pathways of all organisms.Nelson, D ...
(also called G3P, GP, TP, PGAL, GAP) is produced, and the NADPH itself is oxidized and becomes NADP+. Again, two NADPH are utilized per fixed. The next stage in the Calvin cycle is to regenerate RuBP. Five G3P molecules produce three RuBP molecules, using up three molecules of ATP. Since each molecule produces two G3P molecules, three molecules produce six G3P molecules, of which five are used to regenerate RuBP, leaving a net gain of one G3P molecule per three molecules (as would be expected from the number of carbon atoms involved). The regeneration stage can be broken down into a series of steps. # Triose phosphate isomerase converts all of the G3P reversibly into
dihydroxyacetone phosphate Dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP, also glycerone phosphate in older texts) is the anion with the formula HOCH2C(O)CH2OPO32-. This anion is involved in many metabolic pathways, including the Calvin cycle in plants and glycolysis.Nelson, D. L.; C ...
(DHAP), also a 3-carbon molecule. # Aldolase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase convert a G3P and a DHAP into fructose 6-phosphate (6C). A phosphate ion is lost into solution. # Then fixation of another generates two more G3P. # F6P has two carbons removed by transketolase, giving erythrose-4-phosphate (E4P). The two carbons on transketolase are added to a G3P, giving the ketose xylulose-5-phosphate (Xu5P). # E4P and a DHAP (formed from one of the G3P from the second fixation) are converted into
sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate Sedoheptulose-bisphosphatase (also sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase or SBPase, EC number 3.1.3.37; systematic name sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase) is an enzyme that catalyzes the removal of a phosphate group from sedoheptulose 1, ...
(7C) by aldolase enzyme. # Sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase (one of only three enzymes of the Calvin cycle that are unique to plants) cleaves
sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate Sedoheptulose-bisphosphatase (also sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase or SBPase, EC number 3.1.3.37; systematic name sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase) is an enzyme that catalyzes the removal of a phosphate group from sedoheptulose 1, ...
into sedoheptulose-7-phosphate, releasing an inorganic phosphate ion into solution. # Fixation of a third generates two more G3P. The ketose S7P has two carbons removed by transketolase, giving
ribose-5-phosphate Ribose 5-phosphate (R5P) is both a product and an intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway. The last step of the oxidative reactions in the pentose phosphate pathway is the production of ribulose 5-phosphate. Depending on the body's state, r ...
(R5P), and the two carbons remaining on transketolase are transferred to one of the G3P, giving another Xu5P. This leaves one G3P as the product of fixation of 3 , with generation of three pentoses that can be converted to Ru5P. # R5P is converted into ribulose-5-phosphate (Ru5P, RuP) by
phosphopentose isomerase Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase (Rpi) encoded by the RPIA gene is an enzyme () that catalyzes the conversion between ribose-5-phosphate (R5P) and ribulose-5-phosphate (Ru5P). It is a member of a larger class of isomerases which catalyze the interconv ...
. Xu5P is converted into RuP by
phosphopentose epimerase Phosphopentose epimerase (also known as ribulose-phosphate 3-epimerase and ribulose 5-phosphate 3-epimerase, ) encoded by the RPE gene is a metalloprotein that catalyzes the interconversion between D-ribulose 5-phosphate and D-xylulose 5-phosphat ...
. # Finally, phosphoribulokinase (another plant-unique enzyme of the pathway) phosphorylates RuP into RuBP, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate, completing the Calvin ''cycle''. This requires the input of one ATP. Thus, of six G3P produced, five are used to make three RuBP (5C) molecules (totaling 15 carbons), with only one G3P available for subsequent conversion to hexose. This requires nine ATP molecules and six NADPH molecules per three molecules. The equation of the overall Calvin cycle is shown diagrammatically below.
RuBisCO Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCo, rubisco, RuBPCase, or RuBPco, is an enzyme () involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is co ...
also reacts competitively with instead of in photorespiration. The rate of photorespiration is higher at high temperatures. Photorespiration turns RuBP into 3-PGA and 2-phosphoglycolate, a 2-carbon molecule that can be converted via glycolate and glyoxalate to glycine. Via the glycine cleavage system and tetrahydrofolate, two glycines are converted into serine plus . Serine can be converted back to 3-phosphoglycerate. Thus, only 3 of 4 carbons from two phosphoglycolates can be converted back to 3-PGA. It can be seen that photorespiration has very negative consequences for the plant, because, rather than fixing , this process leads to loss of . C4 carbon fixation evolved to circumvent photorespiration, but can occur only in certain plants native to very warm or tropical climates—corn, for example. Furthermore, RuBisCO's catalyzing the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis generally exhibit an improved specificity for CO2 relative to O2, in order to minimize the oxygenation reaction. This improved specificity evolved after RuBisCO incorporated a new protein subunit.


Products

The immediate products of one turn of the Calvin cycle are 2 glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) molecules, 3 ADP, and 2 NADP+. (ADP and NADP+ are not really "products". They are regenerated and later used again in the
light-dependent reactions Light-dependent reactions is jargon for certain photochemical reactions that are involved in photosynthesis, the main process by which plants acquire energy. There are two light dependent reactions, the first occurs at photosystem II (PSII) and ...
). Each G3P molecule is composed of 3 carbons. For the Calvin cycle to continue, RuBP (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate) must be regenerated. So, 5 out of 6 carbons from the 2 G3P molecules are used for this purpose. Therefore, there is only 1 net carbon produced to play with for each turn. To create 1 surplus G3P requires 3 carbons, and therefore 3 turns of the Calvin cycle. To make one glucose molecule (which can be created from 2 G3P molecules) would require 6 turns of the Calvin cycle. Surplus G3P can also be used to form other carbohydrates such as starch, sucrose, and cellulose, depending on what the plant needs.


Light-dependent regulation

These reactions do not occur in the dark or at night. There is a light-dependent regulation of the cycle enzymes, as the third step requires NADPH. There are two regulation systems at work when the cycle must be turned on or off: the
thioredoxin Thioredoxin is a class of small redox proteins known to be present in all organisms. It plays a role in many important biological processes, including redox signaling. In humans, thioredoxins are encoded by ''TXN'' and '' TXN2'' genes. Loss-of-fu ...
/ ferredoxin activation system, which activates some of the cycle enzymes; and the
RuBisCo Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCo, rubisco, RuBPCase, or RuBPco, is an enzyme () involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is co ...
enzyme activation, active in the Calvin cycle, which involves its own activase. The thioredoxin/ferredoxin system activates the enzymes glyceraldehyde-3-P dehydrogenase, glyceraldehyde-3-P phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, sedoheptulose-1,7-bisphosphatase, and ribulose-5-phosphatase kinase, which are key points of the process. This happens when light is available, as the ferredoxin protein is reduced in the photosystem I complex of the thylakoid electron chain when electrons are circulating through it. Ferredoxin then binds to and reduces the thioredoxin protein, which activates the cycle enzymes by severing a
cystine Cystine is the oxidized derivative of the amino acid cysteine and has the formula (SCH2CH(NH2)CO2H)2. It is a white solid that is poorly soluble in water. As a residue in proteins, cystine serves two functions: a site of redox reactions and a m ...
bond found in all these enzymes. This is a dynamic process as the same bond is formed again by other proteins that deactivate the enzymes. The implications of this process are that the enzymes remain mostly activated by day and are deactivated in the dark when there is no more reduced ferredoxin available. The enzyme RuBisCo has its own, more complex activation process. It requires that a specific
lysine Lysine (symbol Lys or K) is an α-amino acid that is a precursor to many proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated form under biological conditions), an α-carboxylic acid group (which is in the deprotonated &minu ...
amino acid be carbamylated to activate the enzyme. This lysine binds to RuBP and leads to a non-functional state if left uncarbamylated. A specific activase enzyme, called RuBisCo activase, helps this carbamylation process by removing one proton from the lysine and making the binding of the carbon dioxide molecule possible. Even then the RuBisCo enzyme is not yet functional, as it needs a magnesium ion bound to the lysine to function. This magnesium ion is released from the thylakoid lumen when the inner pH drops due to the active pumping of protons from the electron flow. RuBisCo activase itself is activated by increased concentrations of ATP in the stroma caused by its
phosphorylation In chemistry, phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a molecule or an ion. This process and its inverse, dephosphorylation, are common in biology and could be driven by natural selection. Text was copied from this source, ...
.


References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * *


Further reading


Rubisco Activase, from the Plant Physiology Online websiteThioredoxins, from the Plant Physiology Online website


External links



* ttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22344/ The Calvin Cycle and the Pentose Phosphate Pathwayfrom ''Biochemistry'', Fifth Edition by Jeremy M. Berg, John L. Tymoczko and Lubert Stryer. Published by W. H. Freeman and Company (2002). {{BranchesofChemistry Photosynthesis Metabolism