Kana Ito, Sakiko Sugawara, Sota Kageyama, Naoki Sawaguchi, Takuro Hyotani, Shin-Ichi Miyazawa, Amane Makino, Yuji Suzuki
The kinetic properties of Rubisco, a key enzyme for photosynthesis, have been examined in numerous plant species. However, this information on some plant groups, such as ferns, is scarce. This study examined Rubisco carboxylase activity and leaf Rubisco levels in seven ferns, including four Equisetum plants (E. arvense, E. hyemale, E. praealtum, and E. variegatum), considered living fossils. The turnover rates of Rubisco carboxylation (kcat c ) in E. praealtum and E. hyemale were comparable to those in the C4 plants maize (Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), whose kcat c values are high...
December 19, 2023: Journal of Plant Research