The world of plants

Slide: 1
Welcome, everyone! Our first scene takes place in the mesophyll cells. Imagine the leaf is in a hot, dry environment, and the plant needs to do its best to capture CO2 efficiently. Let’s begin!
The stomata are open, and I’m starting to absorb CO2 from the air. It's getting a little tricky since the environment is hot and dry, but I’m managing. I’ve got the CO2 now—what’s next?
Slide: 2
I immediately grab the CO2 that the and combine it with PEP. This forms oxaloacetate, a 4-carbon compound. It’s an important step because I’m helping the plant concentrate CO2, which is much more efficient than the traditional method.
Excellent! So both of you have done your job and now oxaloacetate has been formed. What happens to oxaloacetate now?
Now that I’m oxaloacetate, I’m going to get converted into malate, another 4-carbon compound. This is still part of the process to transport CO2 effectively to the next stage. I’m ready to move on to the bundle-sheath cells!
Slide: 3
Now let’s head into the bundle-sheath cells. This is where the plant gets the CO2 concentrated and ready for the Calvin cycle.
I enter the bundle-sheath cell and get broken down. My job is to release CO2, which will now be used for the Calvin cycle. The breakdown of malate releases that precious CO2 into the cell, where it can now be used by Rubisco to form sugars.

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