Organisms that grow by fixing carbon are called
autotrophs, which include
photoautotrophs (which use sunlight) and
lithoautotrophs (which use
inorganic oxidation).
Heterotrophs are not themselves capable of carbon fixation but are able to grow by consuming the carbon fixed by autotrophs or other heterotrophs. "Fixed carbon," "reduced carbon," and "organic carbon" may all be used interchangeably to refer to various organic compounds.[1]Chemosynthesis is carbon fixation driven by chemical energy rather than from sunlight. Sulfur- and hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria often use the
Calvin cycle or the reductive citric acid cycle.[2]
Net vs. gross CO2 fixation
The primary form of fixed inorganic carbon that is fixed is carbon dioxide (CO2). It is estimated that approximately 250 billion tons of carbon dioxide are converted by photosynthesis annually. The majority of the fixation occurs in terrestrial environments, especially the tropics. The gross amount of carbon dioxide fixed is much larger since approximately 40% is consumed by respiration following photosynthesis.[1][3] Historically, it is estimated that approximately 2×1011 billion tons of carbon has been fixed since the origin of life.[4]
[Note Add] terrestrial, marine, and microorganisms divide the percentage.
The
Calvin cycle accounts for 90% of biological carbon fixation (note citation needed). Consuming adenosine triphosphate(ATP) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate(NADPH), the Calvin cycle in plants accounts for the preponderance of carbon fixation on land. In
algae and cyanobacteria, it accounts for the preponderance of carbon fixation in the oceans. The Calvin cycle converts carbon dioxide into sugar (Note: glucose check and specific sugar) as
triose phosphate (TP), which is
glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP) together with
dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP):
3 CO2 + 12 e− + 12 H+ + Pi → TP + 4 H2O
An alternative perspective accounts for NADPH (source of e−) and ATP:
3 CO2 + 6 NADPH + 6 H+ + 9 ATP + 5 H2O → TP + 6 NADP+ + 9 ADP + 8 Pi
The formula for inorganic phosphate (Pi) is HOPO32− + 2H+. Formulas for triose and TP are C2H3O2-CH2OH and C2H3O2-CH2OPO32− + 2H+
Reverse Krebs cycle
The
reverse Krebs cycle, also known as thereverse TCA cycle (rTCA) or thereductive citric acid cycle, is an alternative to the standard
Calvin-Benson cycle for carbon fixation. It has been found in strict anaerobic or microaerobic
bacteria (as Aquificales) and anaerobic
archea. It was discovered by Evans, Buchanan and Arnon in 1966 working with the photosynthetic
green sulfur bacteriumChlorobium limicola.[7] In particular, it is one of the most used pathways in
hydrothermal vents by the
Campylobacterota.[8]This feature is very important in oceans. Without it, there would be no primary production in
aphotic environments, which would lead to habitats without life.This feature allows primary production in the ocean's
aphotic environments., or "dark primary production."[9]So this kind of primary production is called "dark primary production".[9]
The cycle involves the biosynthesis of
acetyl-CoA from two molecules of CO2.[10] The key steps of the reverse Krebs cycle are:
The
reductive acetyl CoA pathway (CoA) pathway, also known as the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway uses CO2 as electron acceptor and carbon source, and H2 as an electron donor to form acetic acid.[13] This metabolism is wide spread within the phylum
Bacillota, especially in the
Clostridia.[14]
The pathway is also used by
methanogens, which are mainly
Euryarchaeota, and several anaerobic chemolithoautotrophs, such as sulfate-reducing bacteria and archaea. It is probably performed also by the Brocadiales, an order of
Planctomycetota that oxidize ammonia in anaerobic condition.[10][14][15] Hydrogenotrophic
methanogenesis, which is only found in certain archaea and accounts for 80% of global methanogenesis, is also based on the reductive acetyl CoA pathway.
One branch of this pathway, the methyl branch, is similar but non-homologous between bacteria and archaea. In this branch happens the reduction of CO2 to a methyl residue bound to a cofactor. The intermediates are formate for bacteria and formyl-methanofuran for archaea, and also the carriers, tetrahydrofolate and tetrahydropterins respectively in bacteria and archaea, are different, such as the enzymes forming the cofactor-bound methyl group.[10]
Otherwise, the carbonyl branch is homologous between the two domains and consists of the reduction of another molecule of CO2 to a carbonyl residue bound to an enzyme, catalyzed by the CO dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase. This key enzyme is also the catalyst for the formation of acetyl-CoA starting from the products of the previous reactions, the methyl and the carbonyl residues.[16]
This carbon fixation pathway requires only one molecule of ATP for the production of one molecule of pyruvate, which makes this process one of the main choice for chemolithoautotrophs limited in energy and living in anaerobic conditions.[10]
3-Hydroxypropionate bicycle
The
3-Hydroxypropionate bicycle, also known as 3-HP/malyl-CoA cycle, discovered only in 1989, is utilized by green non-sulfur phototrophs of
Chloroflexaceae family, including the maximum exponent of this family Chloroflexus auranticus by which this way was discovered and demonstrated.[17] The 3-Hydroxipropionate bicycle is composed of two cycles and the name of this way comes from the 3-Hydroxyporopionate which corresponds to an intermediate characteristic of it.
The first cycle is a way of synthesis of
glyoxylate. During this cycle, two equivalents of
bicarbonate are fixed by the action of two enzymes: the Acetyl-CoA carboxylase catalyzes the carboxylation of the Acetyl-CoA to Malonyl-CoA and Propionyl-CoA carboxylase catalyses the carboxylation of propionyl-CoA to methylamalonyl-CoA. From this point a series of reactions lead to the formation of glyoxylate which will thus become part of the second cycle.[18][19]
In the second cycle, glyoxylate is approximately one equivalent of propionyl-CoA forming methylamalonyl-CoA. This, in turn, is then converted through a series of reactions into citramalyl-CoA. The citramalyl-CoA is split into pyruvate and Acetyl-CoA thanks to the enzyme MMC lyase. At this point the pyruvate is released, while the Acetyl-CoA is reused and carboxylated again at Malonyl-CoA thus reconstituting the cycle.[20]
A total of 19 reactions are involved in 3-hydroxypropionate bicycle and 13 multifunctional enzymes are used. The multifunctionality of these enzymes is an important feature of this pathway which thus allows the fixation of three bicarbonate molecules.[20]
It is a very expensive pathway: 7 ATP molecules are used for the synthesis of the new pyruvate and 3 ATP for the phosphate triose.[19]
An important characteristic of this cycle is that it allows the co-assimilation of numerous compounds making it suitable for the
mixotrophic organisms.[19]
Cycles related to the 3-hydroxypropionate cycle
A variant of the 3-hydroxypropionate cycle was found to operate in the aerobic extreme thermoacidophile archaeon
Metallosphaera sedula. This pathway is called the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle.[21]
Yet another variant of the 3-hydroxypropionate cycle is the dicarboxylate/4-hydroxybutyrate cycle. It was discovered in anaerobic archaea. It was proposed in 2008 for the hyperthermophile archeon
Ignicoccus hospitalis.[22]
enoyl-CoA carboxylases/reductases
CO2 fixation is catalyzed by enoyl-CoA carboxylases/reductases.[23]
Some
carboxylases, particularly
RuBisCO, preferentially bind the lighter carbon stable isotope
carbon-12 over the heavier
carbon-13. This is known as carbon isotope discrimination and results in carbon-12 to carbon-13 ratios in the plant that are higher than in the free air. Measurement of this ratio is important in the evaluation of
water use efficiency in plants,[26][27][28] and also in assessing the possible or likely sources of carbon in global carbon cycle studies.
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