Rubisco evolution in C₄ eudicots: an analysis of Amaranthaceae sensu lato.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) catalyses the key reaction in the photosynthetic assimilation of CO₂. In C₄ plants CO₂ is supplied to Rubisco by an auxiliary CO₂-concentrating pathway that helps to maximize the carboxylase activity of the enzyme while suppressing its oxygenase activity. As a consequence, C₄ Rubisco exhibits a higher maximum velocity but lower substrate specificity compared with the C₃ enzyme. Specific amino-acids in Rubisco are associated with C₄ photosynthesis in monocots, but it is not known whether selection has acted on Rubisco in a similar way in eudicots.

Methodology/principal findings

We investigated Rubisco evolution in Amaranthaceae sensu lato (including Chenopodiaceae), the third-largest family of C₄ plants, usi

SUBMITTER: Kapralov MV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3527620 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature