Rubisco – enzim koji griješi

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, also known as Rubisco, is an enzyme which is involved in the first step of carbon fixation, process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is converted by plants into energy-rich molecules such as starch and sucrose. Because of its bifunctional nature, Rubisco reacts, not only with CO2, but also with molecular oxygen, O2, which indirectly causes loss of energy and carbon for plants. Because of these facts, Rubisco is considered an enzyme which makes mistakes. In this paper, nature of Rubisco is shown, causes of its mistakes are explained as well as their meaning for the plants. Also, the results of a research are shown which confirm the hypothesis that Rubisco evolved with time and got adapted to present environmental conditions. Along with this and insights in other roles of Rubisco such as maintaining global temperature, a conclusion can be made – Rubisco is exactly as it should be.