Question 8 of 10

RuBisCO's active site can bind both CO₂ and O₂, and the relative concentration of the two gases decides which one binds. Evaluate the following Assertion and Reason about what happens in C₃ plants when O₂ binds instead.

• Assertion (A): Photorespiration in C₃ plants is regarded as a wasteful process that lowers the net amount of CO₂ fixed.
• Reason (R): In the photorespiratory pathway there is neither synthesis of sugars nor of ATP; instead it results in the release of CO₂ with the utilisation of ATP.