Original video: https://youtu.be/2Qh7_P4TN2M
Delivered on: 11APRIL2022
Photosynthesis Deep Dive: C3, C4, and CAM Pathways 🌱☀️
This video explores the fascinating world of photosynthesis, diving deep into the different pathways plants use to convert light energy into chemical energy. 🌿 We'll compare and contrast the C3, C4, and CAM pathways, highlighting their unique adaptations and efficiencies.
What you'll learn:
C3 Photosynthesis: We'll review the classic C3 pathway, the most common form of photosynthesis, and its three main stages: carbon fixation, reduction, and regeneration.
Photorespiration: Understand the process of photorespiration, an alternative pathway that occurs in C3 plants under certain conditions, and its impact on photosynthetic efficiency.
C4 Photosynthesis: Explore the C4 pathway, an adaptation found in plants like corn and sugarcane, which minimizes photorespiration and improves efficiency in hot, dry environments.
CAM Photosynthesis: Discover the CAM pathway, another adaptation for arid conditions, found in plants like cacti and succulents, where carbon fixation occurs at night to conserve water.
Leaf Anatomy and Photosynthesis: We'll examine how leaf anatomy differs between C3, C4, and CAM plants, reflecting their unique photosynthetic adaptations.
The main difference between C3 C4 and CAM photosynthesis is that C3 photosynthesis produces a three-carbon compound via the Calvin cycle, and C4 photosynthesis produces an intermediate four-carbon compound, which split into a three-carbon compound for the Calvin cycle, whereas CAM photosynthesis gathers sunlight during the day and fix carbon dioxide at night. Furthermore, the majority of plants undergo C3 photosynthesis, while C4 photosynthesis occurs in around 3% of vascular plants, including crabgrass, sugarcane, corn, etc. Meanwhile, CAM photosynthesis occurs in plants adapted to dry environments, including cacti and pineapples.
C3, C4, and CAM photosynthesis are three types of photosynthesis pathways with different modes of Calvin cycles. They have different mechanisms to combat photorespiration. C3 plants do not have special features to combat photorespiration, while C4 plants minimize photorespiration by performing carbon dioxide fixation and Calvin cycle in separate cells. CAM plants, on the other hand, minimize photorespiration by performing carbon dioxide fixation and Calvin cycle at separate times.
At the end, we see how to quantify leaf area of a compound leaf from tapioca plant Manihot esculenta using ImageJ freehand selection and threshold method
Keywords: Photosynthesis, C3 pathway, C4 pathway, CAM pathway, photorespiration, carbon fixation, Rubisco, plant physiology, leaf anatomy.
Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0 - Creative Commons
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