In cyanobacteria, the RbcX protein enhances the production of Rubisco, the multisubunit enzyme that catalyzes the first step of carbon dioxide fixation in most autotrophic organisms. In this issue of Cell, Saschenbrecker et al. (2007) report that RbcX acts as a specific assembly chaperone that mobilizes the large subunits of Rubisco to a specific oligomeric core that can then combine with the s...

The importance of the eukaryotic algal CO(2)-concentrating mechanism (CCM) is considered in terms of global productivity as well as molecular phylogeny and diversity. The three major constituents comprising the CCM in the majority of eukaryotes are described. These include: (i) likely plasma- and chloroplast-membrane inorganic carbon transporters; (ii) a suite of carbonic anhydrase enzymes in s...

Form I ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO) from Rhodobacter sphaeroides is inactivated upon the addition of organic acids to photolithoautotrophically grown cultures. Activity recovers after the dissipation of the organic acid from the culture. The inactivation process depends on both the concentration of the organic compound and the nitrogen status of the cells. The inact...

Two immunological approaches were used to determine if ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RuBisCo) is present in guard cell chloroplasts. Immunocytochemistry on thin plastic sections using tissue samples that were processed using traditional glutaraldehyde/osmium fixation and then restored to antigenicity with metaperiodate treatment, resulted in labeling over wild-type mesophyll and ...

Recovery of photosynthesis in rehydrating desiccated leaves of the poikilochlorophyllous desiccation-tolerant plant Xerophyta scabrida was investigated. Detached leaves were remoistened under 12 h light/dark cycles for 96 h. Water, chlorophyll (Chl), and protein contents, Chl fluorescence, photosynthesis-CO(2) concentration response, and the amount and activity of Rubisco were measured at inter...

The two carboxylation reactions performed by phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) are vital in the fixation of inorganic carbon for C4 plants. The abundance of PEPC is substantially elevated in C4 leaves, while the location of Rubisco is restricted to one of two chloroplast types. These differences compared with C3 leaves have been...

Iron nutrient deficiency was investigated in leaves of hydroponically grown sugar beets (Beta vulgaris) to determine how ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) gene expression is affected when thylakoid components of photosynthesis are diminished. Rubisco polypeptide content was reduced by 60% in severely iron-stressed leaves, and the reduction was directly correlated to chlo...

The consequences of light adaptation and acclimation of photosynthesis on photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), particularly as it relates to the efficiency of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) use in photosynthetic CO2 assimilation, was studied in the sun species Glycine max and the shade species Alocasia macrorrhiza. Both G. max and A. macrorrhiza were found to possess t...

Senescence is a phase of leaf ontogeny marked by declining photosynthetic activity that, in soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), is paralleled by a decline in chloroplast function. Soybean leaves have different patterns of decline in photosynthetic capacity and chloroplast function associated with nodal position and sink activity. The objective of this work was to determine whether leaves from nod...

Rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase), the most abundant protein in the biosphere catalyzes photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation and photorespiratory carbon oxidation. In land plants and green algae the enzyme is an oligomeric protein composed of eight large and eight small subunits (LSs and SSs, respectively). A lot of experimental data exist indicating that Rubisco is hi...