220k views
2 votes
In CAM plants, CO2 is bonded to ________ to form _______.

(1) PEP, oxaloacetate
(2) oxaloacetate, PEP
(3) RuBP, PGA
(4) oxaloacetate, citrate
(5) citrate, oxaloacetate

User Virgesmith
by
8.5k points

1 Answer

0 votes

Final answer:

In CAM plants, carbon dioxide is bonded to PEP to form oxaloacetate, which is enabled by the enzyme PEP carboxylase.

Step-by-step explanation:

In CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) plants, CO₂ is bonded to PEP (phosphoenolpyruvate) to form oxaloacetate. This is a two-step process where first, PEP carboxylase catalyzes the fixation of CO₂ to PEP, resulting in oxaloacetate, a four-carbon compound. This process differs from the carbon fixation in C3 plants, where RuBisCO catalyzes the reaction between CO₂ and RuBP (ribulose bisphosphate) to form 3-PGA (3-phospho glyceric acid). The correct answer to the student's question is option (1) PEP, oxaloacetate.

Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.