NEETBotanyPhotosynthesis in Higher Plants
What did Melvin Calvin use to discover the first CO2 fixation product?
Options
- ALight microscopy
- BX-ray crystallography
- CRadioactive 14C
- DElectron microscopy
Correct answer
C. Radioactive 14C
Step-by-step solution
CO2 is combined with H2O to produce (CH2O) n or sugars. It was of interest to scientists to find out how this reaction proceeded, or rather what was the first product formed when CO2 is taken into a reaction or fixed. Just after world war II, among the several efforts to put radioisotopes to beneficial use, the work of Melvin Calvin is exemplary. The use of radioactive 14C by him in algal photosynthesis studies led to the discovery that the first CO2 fixation product was a 3-carbon organic acid. He also contributed