C4 Pathway MCQ - Practice Questions with Answers

• Plants that are adapted to dry tropical regions have the C4 pathway.
• Though these plants have the C4 oxaloacetic acid as the first CO2 fixation product they use the C3 pathway or the Calvin cycle as the main biosynthetic pathway.
• This pathway that has been named the Hatch and Slack Pathway (in the name of scientists), is again a cyclic process.
• C4 plants are found in hot dry places like plains and savannas.

The specialty of C4 plants:

• They have a special type of leaf anatomy, they tolerate higher temperatures, they show a response to high light intensities, they lack a process called photorespiration, and have greater productivity of biomass.
• The particularly large cells around the vascular bundles of the C4 plants are called bundle sheath cells, and the leaves which have such anatomy are said to have ‘Kranz’ anatomy. 
• ‘Kranz’ means ‘wreath’ and is a reflection of the arrangement of cells. 
• The bundle sheath cells may form several layers around the vascular bundles; they are characterized by having a large number of chloroplasts, thick walls impervious to gaseous exchange, and no intercellular spaces.
• The chloroplasts of bundle sheath cells lack grana.