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Photorespiration: RuBisCO's Oxygenase Activity

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State

RuBisCO sometimes binds oxygen instead of carbon dioxide, starting photorespiration, which spends ATP and releases fixed carbon without producing sugar.

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On a hot day with stomata partly closed, oxygen outpaces carbon dioxide inside the leaf, so RuBisCO binds oxygen more often.

Watch for

Photorespiration wastes energy and forfeits carbon already fixed, rather than merely reversing the Calvin cycle.