Understanding RuBisCo Expression
Differences in C3, C4, and CAM PlantsUnderstanding RuBisCo Expression
Differences in C3, C4, and CAM Plants
Nhut Le, Clayton White, and Matt Schwee
Abstract:
C3, C4, and CAM plants have evolved different strategies for the fixation of carbon dioxide into organic compounds. The specific goal of this experiment was to investigate how these different strategies affected the amount of chloroplasts and RuBisCO protein in green plant leaf tissue. To this end, total DNA and proteins were extracted from Arabidopsis thaliana(C3), Digitaria sanguinalis(C4), and Ananas comosus(CAM). Due to the differences in the efficiency of their strategies for carbon fixation, it was hypothesized that the C4 plant sample would have the least amount of RuBisCo protein and chloroplasts followed by CAM and C3 plant samples. Quantitative real-time PCR and gel electrophoresis was used to quantify the amount of RBCL gene, a gene encoded in the chloroplast genome that can be used to determine the relative amount of chloroplast present. A Western Blot and SDS-PAGE was used to determine the amount of RCBL protein. Results showed that the C4 plant had least number of copies of RBCL gene whereas the C3 plant had the most. Data from the polyacrylamide gels and Western Blot analysis were inconclusive. In the future we would like to repeat this experiment using better protein extraction techniques and using multiple plants from each group of the three carbon fixation pathways.
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