Photosynthesis
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Photosynthetic Pathways
C3 Photosynthetic Pathway
The first photosynthetic pathway that was biochemically characterized is called the C3 pathway because the initial products of carbon fixation are 3-carbon compounds (phosphoglyceric acid, PGA) (Figure 2). CO2 is combined with a 5-carbon sugar, ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP), using the enzyme ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rubisco):[1]