Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
What special anatomical features are displayed by leaves of C4 plants? How do they provide advantage over the structure of C3 plants?
Advertisements
Solution
The C4 plants have special anatomy in leaves. There is a sheath of enormous cells throughout the vascular bundles in the leaves. This is called Kranz Anatomy. Several membranes of cells around the bundle cell are particularly impregnated with chloroplast. The thick walls of these cells are impenetrable to gaseous exchange. Intercellular space is absent in the sheath. The bundle sheath provides an advantage to C4 plants over C3 plants. This sheath helps in increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the leaves. The relative concentration of carbon dioxide and oxygen influences the binding of this enzyme to a particular molecule. The high concentration of carbon dioxide in the leaves of these plants ensures that all the RuBisCO binds with carbon dioxide and there is no binding with oxygen. Thus, photorespiration does not take place in these plants. This helps in prevent wastage of aids and carbon fixation is highly productive in these plants. Eventually, these plants establish a higher percentage of biomass compared to the C3 plants.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
By looking at a plant externally can you tell whether a plant is C3 or C4? Why and how?
RuBisCo is an enzyme that acts both as a carboxylase and oxygenase. Why do you think RuBisCo carries out more carboxylation in C4 plants?
Give comparison between the following:
Anatomy of leaf in C3 and C4 plants
In the maize plant, \[\ce{CO2}\] fixation occurs in both mesophyll and bundle sheath cells. The enzymes involved in these cells for the process respectively are, ______.
In case of C4 pathway, the first step is
The first stable product of CO2 fixation in sorghum is ______
The enzyme that is not found in a C3 plant is ______.
When CO2 is added to PEP, the first stable product synthesised is ______.
Can girdling experiments be done in monocots? If yes, How? If no, why not?
Some of these terms/chemicals are associated with the C4 cycle. Explain.
Hatch slack pathway
Some of these terms/chemicals are associated with the C4 cycle. Explain.
PEP carboxylase
Succulents are known to keep their stomata closed during the day to check transpiration. How do they meet their photosynthetic CO2 requirements?
In what kind of plants do you come across ‘Kranz’ anatomy? To which conditions are those plants better adapted? How are these plants better adapted than the plants which lack this anatomy?
Observe the diagram and answer the following.
- Which group of plants exibits these two types of cells?
- What is the first product of C4 cycle?
- Which enzyme is there in bundle sheath cells and mesophyll cells?
A cyclic process is occurring in C3 plant, which is light dependent, and needs O2. This process doesn’t produce energy rather it consumes energy.
- Can you name the given process?
- Is it essential for survival?
- What are the end products of this process?
- Where does it occur?
Which of the following statements about RuBisCO is true?
