Abstract
To study the regulation of photosynthetic carbon flow in higher plants, many researchers created and analyzed transgenic plants that had reduced or increased the respective enzyme activity involved in the Calvin cycle, sucrose synthesis and starch metabolism. We succeeded in enhancing the photosynthetic carbon fixation capacity by introducing a certain enzyme, FBPase and/or SBPase, in the Calvin cycle. We also reported that the oligomerization of CP12 together with PRK and GAPDH regulates activities of these enzymes and changes the carbon flow from the Calvin cycle to the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in the dark conditions. In this review, we discuss that the contribution of some enzymes and processes in the Calvin cycle to controlling the metabolic flux and storage of carbohydrates and plant growth. These results lead to a reassessment of ideas about the regulation of carbon metabolism and provide consequences for design of bioengineering strategies to increase plant productivity.
