Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase(Rubisco) is a key enzyme in plant photosynthesis,
which controls the carbon dioxide fixation, and restricts the shunt of carbon into the Calvin cycle and
photorespiration cycle. The activity of rubisco has direct reflect on the photosynthetic rate.
Rubisco catalyzes combination of one molecule of ribulose-1,5-diphosphate(RuBP) binds and one
molecule of carbon dioxide to produce two molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate (PGA). PGA produces
glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate by the action of additional 3-phosphoglycerate kinase and glyceraldehyde-3-
phosphate dehydrogenase, which is accompanied by NADH oxidation to form NAD+. NADH has a
characteristic absorption peak at 340 nm, while NAD+ does not. In this kit, the activity of rubisco is
determined by the decrease rate of NADH at 340 nm.
Reagents and Equipment Required but Not Provided:
Ultraviolet spectrophotometer, desk centrifuge, adjustable pipette, water bath, 1 mL quartz cuvette,
mortar/homogenizer, ice, distilled water.
