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Q.In C4 pathway the CO2 fixation in mesophyll cells is carried out by the enzyme:

(a) Pyruvate dehydrogenase
(b) Pyruvate decarboxylase
(c) RUBISCO
(d) PEP carboxylase
Jammu Kashmir JkboseJammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (Class 11) 2025MCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★
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CO2 fixation in the mesophyll cells of C4 plants is carried out by PEP carboxylase, forming the 4-carbon compound oxaloacetic acid (OAA).

C4 plants (e.g., maize, sugarcane) show Kranz anatomy, with two distinct photosynthetic cell types: mesophyll cells and bundle sheath cells. In the mesophyll cells, atmospheric CO2 combines with the 3-carbon acceptor phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) in a reaction catalysed by the enzyme PEP carboxylase (PEPcase). Because PEP carboxylase has a much higher affinity for CO2 than RuBisCO and does not react with O2, it efficiently fixes CO2 even at low concentrations, producing the 4-carbon compound oxaloacetic acid (OAA), which is subsequently converted to malate/aspartate and transported to the bundle sheath cells. There, the 4-carbon acid is decarboxylated to release CO2, which is then fixed again by RuBisCO in the Calvin cycle (this second, …

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