Some of these terms/chemicals are associated with the C4 cycle. Explain.

a. Hatch slack pathway

b. Calvin cycle

c. PEP carboxylase

d. Bundle sheath cells

(a) In C4 plants the process is called the Hatch & Slack Pathway, the glucose synthesis process. M D Hatch and C R Slack discovered it in 1977.

(b) Steps leading to the formation of carbohydrate following the division of the water molecule. This happens in a cyclical manner and is called Calvin Cycle. This was first discovered by Melvin Calvin and his co-workers.

(c) PEP carboxylase is an enzyme. It is present in mesophyll cells of C4 plants. It fixes carbon to form oxaloacetate.

(d) The specialized sclerenchyma cells present around vascular bundles in the veins of C4 plants are called bundle sheath cells.