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Laboratory Guide - Exercise 3

This document provides a laboratory guide for an experiment on photorespiration. The guide includes: 1) An introduction that explains photorespiration reduces crop yields and describes the C3, C4, and CAM pathways that allow some plants to minimize photorespiration. 2) Directions for an activity where students grow and observe C3 and C4 plants in an airtight container to compare their appearance over one week. 3) Requirements for a laboratory report analyzing the results and discussing questions about oxygen levels, compensation points, and which species would photosynthesize after a week with declining carbon dioxide.

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Alaniss Viveca Agno
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© © All Rights Reserved
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123 views

Laboratory Guide - Exercise 3

This document provides a laboratory guide for an experiment on photorespiration. The guide includes: 1) An introduction that explains photorespiration reduces crop yields and describes the C3, C4, and CAM pathways that allow some plants to minimize photorespiration. 2) Directions for an activity where students grow and observe C3 and C4 plants in an airtight container to compare their appearance over one week. 3) Requirements for a laboratory report analyzing the results and discussing questions about oxygen levels, compensation points, and which species would photosynthesize after a week with declining carbon dioxide.

Uploaded by

Alaniss Viveca Agno
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College Zoo 120.

1 Animal Physiology Laboratory


Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

University of the Philippines Visayas


TACLOBAN COLLEGE

BOT 121.1 – Elementary Plant Physiology Laboratory


Second Semester AY 2022-2023

Exercise 3: Photorespiration

LABORATORY GUIDE

Introduction

Welcome to Laboratory Guide 3 of BOT 121.1.

High crop yields are pretty important—for keeping people fed, and also for keeping economies
running. If you heard there was a single factor that reduced the yield of wheat by 20 percent
and the yield of soybeans by 36 percent in the United States, for instance, you might be curious
to know what it was.

As it turns out, the factor behind those (real-life) numbers is photorespiration. This wasteful
metabolic pathway begins when rubisco, the carbon-fixing enzyme of the Calvin cycle, grabs
O2 rather than CO2. It uses up fixed carbon, wastes energy, and tends to happens when
plants close their stomata (leaf pores) to reduce water loss. High temperatures make it even
worse.

Some plants, unlike wheat and soybean, can escape the worst effects of photorespiration.
The C4 and CAM pathways are two adaptations—beneficial features arising by natural
selection—that allow certain species to minimize photorespiration. These pathways work by
ensuring that Rubisco always encounters high concentrations of CO2 making it unlikely to
bind to O2.

C3 Plants
A “normal” plant—one that doesn’t have photosynthetic adaptations to reduce
photorespiration—is called a C3 plant. The first step of the Calvin cycle is the fixation of carbon
dioxide by rubisco, and plants that use only this “standard” mechanism of carbon fixation are
called C3 plants, for the three-carbon compound (3-PGA) the reaction produces. About 85
percent of the plant species on the planet are C3 plants, including rice, wheat, soybeans and
all trees.

C4 Plants
Many angiosperms have developed adaptations which minimize the losses to
photorespiration. They all use a supplementary method of CO2 uptake which initially forms a
four-carbon molecule compared to the two three-carbon molecules that are initially formed in
the C3 pathway. Hence, these plants are called C4 plants. Note that C4 plants will eventually
conduct the light-independent reactions (C3 pathway), but they form a four-carbon molecule
first.

These C4 plants are well adapted to (and likely to be found in) habitats with high daytime
temperatures and intense sunlight. Some examples are crabgrass, corn (maize), sugarcane,
and sorghum. Although comprising only ~3% of the angiosperms by species, C4 plants are
responsible for ~25% of all the photosynthesis on land.

1
University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College Zoo 120.1 Animal Physiology Laboratory
Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

CAM Plants
Some plants that are adapted to dry environments, such as cacti and pineapples, use the
crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) pathway to minimize photorespiration. This name
comes from the family of plants, the Crassulaceae, in which scientists first discovered the
pathway.

Learning Outcomes

After studying this module, you should be able to:


1. Compare the response of species exhibiting high and low rates of photorespiration;
and
2. Relate photorespiration to changes in carbon dioxide or oxygen levels.

Study Schedule

This module should be completed on March 24, 2023. There are two activities, which will
take about 3 hours for you to complete as shown in the table.

Activity Number Task Allotted Time

Activity 1 Perform Exercise 3 2 weeks

Activity 2 Writing of Laboratory Report 3 hours

Now proceed with Activity 1 below and the rest of the module.

Activity 1 (2 weeks)

1. Select seeds of a representative species of C3 plant (rice, soybean) and C4


plant (corn, sorghum).
2. Sow seeds directly on pots containing soil (ideally heat-treated or sterile).
3. After germination, allow the seedlings to grow for two weeks inside the
greenhouse (or equivalent area)
4. At the end of the second week, remove the cotyledon/endosperm of each C3
and C4 representative seedling and replant both inside a single pot containing
soil.
5. Cover the potted plants with an appropriately sized transparent container
instead of a bell jar. Make the system airtight by sealing with masking tape or
equivalent.
6. Observe the set-up every day for one week.
7. Compare the appearance of the two species and record your observations.

2
University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College Zoo 120.1 Animal Physiology Laboratory
Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Activity 2 (3 hours)

A. Write a complete handwritten laboratory report (Introduction, Materials and Methods


(schematic diagram), Results and Discussion, Conclusion, References. Include in the
discussion your answers to the following questions:
1. What did you observe on the appearance of the two plants over the one-week
period?
2. Will the oxygen concentration in the set-up increase or decrease? What effect
would there be on C3 plants for such change in oxygen level?
3. Define carbon dioxide compensation point and light compensation point.
4. With the decline in carbon dioxide concentration in the set-up, which species
would still exhibit net photosynthesis after one week? Explain your answer.

References

Alejar, A. et. al. 2009. Laboratory Manual in Elementary Plant Physiology. 4th Edition.
Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines
Los Baňos College, Laguna, Philippines.

Plant Photorespiration. (2021, March 1). Retrieved June 21, 2021, from
https://bio.libretexts.org/@go/page/46193

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