Photosynthesis. Carbon metabolism: by day and by night

Abstract

The extent and complexity of metabolic activity in photosynthetic cells during darkness has been overshadowed by those more novel portions of metabolism that are unique to photosynthetic cells in the light. This review attempts to correct some of this imbalance by emphasizing recent advances in our understanding of the nighttime activity of photosynthetic cells, including the role of the newly discovered regulatory metabolite fructose-2,6-P2, and a detailed review of that variant of photosynthesis which has a cellar-like attribute to it, i.e. CAM, in which C02 is taken up nocturnally. The recently discovered finer details of daytime photosynthetic carbon metabolism are also covered for the period since our last review in Volume 46 of Progress in Botany.