Radiometric determination of rubisco activation state and quantity in leaves

Rubisco is the key enzyme in photosynthesis, catalyzing fixation of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into energy storage molecules. Several inefficiencies in Rubisco limit the rate of photosynthesis, and, therefore, the growth of the plant. Rubisco is sensitive to light, making deactivation of the enzyme upon sampling likely. Moreover, the indirect methods often used to study its activity make obtaining reliable data difficult. In this Chapter, we describe an approach to generate reliable and repeatable data for Rubisco activities, activation state and abundance in plant leaves. We include methods to sample and extract proteins, minimizing Rubisco degradation and deactivation. We describe radiometric techniques to measure Rubisco activities and calculate its activation state at the time of sampling, and to quantify its abundance.