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pyrenoid
EntityQ574470· pop 19· linked from 410 articles

Also known as GO:1990732

thumb|270px|Cross section of a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii algae cell, a 3D representation

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~13 min read

Article

9 sections
Contents
  • Discovery
  • Structure
  • Gross morphology and ultrastructure
  • Molecular components
  • Role of pyrenoids in the CCM
  • Physiology and regulation of the CCM
  • Origin
  • Diversity
  • References

thumb|270px|Cross section of a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii algae cell, a 3D representation

Pyrenoids are sub-cellular phase-separated micro-compartments found in chloroplasts of many algae, and in a single group of land plants, the hornworts. Pyrenoids are associated with the operation of a carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM). Their main function is to act as centres of carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation, by generating and maintaining a CO2-rich environment around the photosynthetic enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). Pyrenoids therefore seem to have a role analogous to that of carboxysomes in cyanobacteria.

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