Molecular Approaches to Studying Natural Communities of Autotrophs

Abstract

Ribulose 1,5-diphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) forms the major link between the inorganic and organic carbon pools in the biosphere (Hartman and Harpel, 1994). Most ecosystems employ this enzyme in the process of photosynthetic carbon fixation (PCF), although certain ecosystems devoid of light (ie. hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor) use Rubisco in chemosynthetic carbon fixation (Jannasch et al., 1985). Rubisco enjoined with the enzymes of the Calvin cycle provide the net synthesis of 3 phosphoglyceric acid from 3 CO₂’s (Tabita, 1994).