Plant metabolism

Plant metabolism is the network of biochemical reactions through which plants acquire and transform energy and matter for growth, maintenance, and reproduction.

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Photosynthesis: The process by which plants convert light energy, carbon dioxide, and water into organic compounds and oxygen. It supplies much of the chemical energy and fixed carbon that plant metabolism uses.
Enzyme: A biological catalyst that accelerates a chemical reaction without being consumed. Enzymes control the rates and specificity of plant metabolic reactions.
C3 carbon fixation: A carbon-fixation pathway in which the first stable product is a three-carbon compound. It is the dominant route in plants and a major target for improving photosynthetic efficiency.
Photorespiration: A process initiated when RuBisCO reacts with oxygen instead of carbon dioxide, leading to carbon loss and energy use. It competes with productive carbon fixation and illustrates a cost of photosynthetic chemistry.
Plant growth: An increase in plant size or biomass through cell division and cell expansion. Growth depends on metabolic production of energy, structural molecules, and cellular components.
Cellular respiration: A set of reactions that releases usable energy from organic molecules, often using oxygen. Plants respire to make ATP from sugars, including when photosynthesis is not occurring.
Adenosine triphosphate: A nucleotide that transfers chemical energy to power cellular processes. ATP couples energy-releasing reactions to energy-demanding synthesis and transport.
C4 carbon fixation: A carbon-fixation pathway that concentrates carbon dioxide around RuBisCO using four-carbon acids. Its adaptations can improve carbon gain in hot, bright environments.
Fermentation: A set of pathways that regenerate NAD+ by transferring electrons to organic molecules without respiratory oxygen use. It supplies limited energy when oxygen-dependent respiration cannot proceed normally.
Plant secondary metabolite: An organic compound produced by plants that is not directly required for basic growth or reproduction. Metabolic pathways generate compounds used in defense, signaling, and ecological interactions.