THE STRUCTURE, CLASSIFICATION, AND APPLICATIONS OF RIBULOSE-1,5-BISPHOSPHATE CARBOXYLASE/OXYGENASE (RUBISCO) IN PHYLOGENY

Abstract

One of the most abundant proteins on Earth is ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). RuBisCO is a crucial enzyme for CO₂ fixation in the autotrophic Calvin-Benson cycle. Several structural and functional forms of RuBisCO exist. In addition, the localization, operon structure, and number of gene copies of RuBisCO vary between autotrophic organisms. Overall, it suggests that RuBisCO could be a candidate for phylogeny analysis due to the variety of organisms it contains.