General Science • BiologyMedium
Consider the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis occurring in the stroma of chloroplasts. What is the primary function of the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase during the Calvin cycle?
A. Catalyzing the fixation of carbon dioxide onto a five-carbon sugar to produce unstable six-carbon intermediates✓ Correct Answer
B. Reducing phosphoglycerate directly into glucose using stored nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate
C. Splitting water molecules into oxygen gas, protons, and electrons during photophosphorylation
D. Pumping protons across the thylakoid membrane to generate adenosine triphosphate via ATP synthase
💡 Solution & Explanation
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase catalyzes the primary carbon fixation step in the Calvin cycle where carbon dioxide attaches to ribulose bisphosphate to form an unstable intermediate that immediately splits into two molecules of three-phosphoglycerate. Plausible distractors describe photolysis of water or photophosphorylation which occur during light-dependent reactions on thylakoid membranes. Rubisco is considered one of the most abundant enzymes on Earth.
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