Catalysis and regulation in Rubisco.
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) catalyses the incorporation of inorganic CO(2) into the organic molecules of life. Rubisco is extremely inefficient as a catalyst and its carboxylase activity is compromised by numerous side-reactions including oxygenation of its sugar phosphate substrate by atmospheric O(2). The reduction in the catalytic efficiency as a result of these processes has implications for crop yield, nitrogen and water usage, and for the global carbon cycle. Several aspects of Rubisco including its complex biosynthesis and multi-step catalytic reaction are subject to tight control involving light, cellular metabolites, and molecular chaperones. Numerous high-resolution crystal structures of different forms of Rubisco are now available, including structures of mutant enzymes. These provide a molecular framework for the understanding of these processes at the molecular level.
Andersson
Inger
I
Department of Molecular Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, BMC Box 590, S-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden. inger@xray.bmc.uu.se
D002384:Catalysis; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase; D010100:Oxygen