C4 Plant

A C4 Plant is a plant that does not perform the Calvin Cycle until the following is completed in order to maintain good CO2 levels. The plant has CO2 passed through the C4 carbon fixation pathway where it first attaches to phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP an enzyme) in the mesophyll cell.  Therefore CO2 and C3 are combined, which makes oxoloacetate, a 4-carbon compound. The C4 is then sent to the bundle sheath cell where the CO2 is freed to enter the C3 pathway. The CO2 enters the calvin cylce, and C3 is sent back to the mesophyl cell. The CO2 that is made is used to make sugars and startches. the C3 that is made is used to make  PEP the enzyme that helps hold CO2 and C3 together
C4 plants are plants that are better in hot temeratures and drought because their stomata do not close to keep water in, which slowly causes O2 to build up and  increase photorespiration leading to unnecessary loss of CO2. Instead they use the C4 pathway and keep a constant flow of CO2. In the picture is corn and corn is an example of a C4 plant.

C4 plant. (2008, August 29). Retrieved from http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/C4_plant