Q.Give the diagrammatic representation of Hatch and Slack cycle. OR Discuss in detail the different steps of Calvin Cycle with the help of a schematic representation.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The Hatch and Slack (C4) cycle fixes CO2 twice — once in mesophyll cells as a 4-carbon acid, and once again (via decarboxylation) inside bundle sheath cells to feed it into the Calvin cycle.
The Hatch and Slack pathway operates in C4 plants (e.g. maize, sugarcane), which show a characteristic 'Kranz anatomy' with two distinct photosynthetic cell types — mesophyll cells and bundle sheath cells — working together. Below is a step-wise (schematic) representation of the cycle:
Mesophyll cell (primary CO2 fixation):
- Atmospheric CO2 diffuses into the mesophyll cell and combines with the 3-carbon acceptor molecule phosphoenol pyruvate (PEP).
- This reaction is catalysed by the enzyme PEP carboxylase (PEPcase), which has a very high affinity for CO2.
- The product is oxaloacetic acid (OAA), a 4-carbon compound — this is why the pathway is called the C4 pathway.
- OAA is rapidly converted, using NADPH, into another 4-carbon acid — usually malate (or in some plants, aspartate).
Transport step:
5. Malate (or aspartate) is transported from the mesophyll cell into an adjoining bundle sheath cell through plasmodesmata.
Bundle sheath cell (CO2 release + Calvin cycle):
6. Inside the bundle sheath cell, malate undergoes decarboxylation, breaking down to release CO2 and a 3-carbon compound, pyruvate.
7. The CO2 released here builds up a high local concentration inside the bundle sheath chloroplasts, where it enters the Calvin cycle (C3 pathway) — being fixed by the enzyme RuBisCO into 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3-PGA), which is eventually converted into sugars.
Regeneration step:
8. The pyruvate produced in the bundle sheath cell is transported back into the mesophyll cell.
9. Using ATP, pyruvate is converted back into PEP (via the enzyme pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase), regenerating the CO2 acceptor molecule and allowing the cycle to repeat.
Schematically:
Mesophyll: CO2 + PEP --(PEP carboxylase)--> OAA --> Malate --(transported)--> Bundle sheath cell …
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