Question

Are there known pathways in plants that use substantial amounts of this oxaloacetate for anabolism, i.e. without decarboxylation and subsequent use of the CO2 by RuBisCO?

Answer 1

Plant pathways using oxaloacetate for anabolism can contribute to the amino acid synthesis without decarboxylation for RuBisCO's use.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student asked about the presence of pathways in plants that use oxaloacetate for anabolism without it undergoing decarboxylation and the subsequent use of the CO2 by RuBisCO. In plants, anabolic pathways that use oxaloacetate often feed into the citric acid cycle, also known as the Krebs cycle, rather than contributing to the carbon fixation process of the Calvin cycle where RuBisCO is involved.

However, oxaloacetate does play a role in the anabolism of certain amino acids and other compounds, which does not necessarily involve decarboxylation by RuBisCO. For instance, oxaloacetate can be aminated to form aspartate, an amino acid, in a transamination reaction. In this case, carbon is not released as CO2 but remains part of the amino acid structure instead.