Author
 |
PORTIS JR, ARCHIE |
|
Submitted to: Annual Plant Reviews
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 6/20/2001 Publication Date: 12/15/2001 Citation: Portis Jr, A.R. 2001. The rubisco activase-rubisco system: an atpase-dependent association that regulates photosynthesis. Annual Plant Reviews: p. 30-52. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The protein Rubisco activase is required for maintaining the catalytic activity of Rubisco in plants and hence the activase serves to regulate the activity of Rubisco. Rubisco is the protein that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combines it with ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate and water to form two molecules of phosphoglyceric acid in the process of photosynthesis. Rubisco is arguably the most abundant protein in the biosphere and it is certainly one of the most important. The activity of Rubisco is a key limiting factor in the productivity of plants and Rubisco is essentially the only carbon sequestering enzyme that directly leads to the net biosynthesis of carbohydrates, sustaining life for both autotropic and heterotropic organisms. The synthesis, assembly, functioning, regulation, and degradation of Rubisco involves a multitude of protein-protein interactions and many of these have served as paradigms for plant molecular biology. The focus in this chapter is on the interaction between Rubisco and the activase that is involved in regulating and maintaining the activity of Rubisco. |
