RuBisCO - 2025 ACF Fall - Buzzpoints App

Question

Oxygen competitively inhibits this enzyme’s active site, leading to a side reaction that produces the toxic compound 2-phosphoglycolate. For 10 points each:

[10m] Name this most abundant enzyme on Earth. This enzyme fixes carbon dioxide to a ribulose derivative during the Calvin cycle.

ANSWER: RuBisCO (“roo-BISS-ko”) [or ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase or RuBPCase or RuBPco]

[10h] To mitigate oxygen inhibition, some plants use this pathway in which the Calvin cycle is sequestered in bundle-sheath cells. In this pathway, carbon dioxide is fixed to produce malate or aspartate in mesophyll cells.

ANSWER: C4 photosynthesis [or C4 carbon fixation or Hatch-Slack pathway; reject “C3 photosynthesis”]

[10e] RuBisCO is tethered by carboxysomes in photosynthetic organisms from this taxonomical domain that may have caused the Great Oxygenation Event. The three-domain system includes Archaea, Eukarya, and this domain.

ANSWER: Bacteria [accept cyanobacteria; reject “algae”]

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Summary


Northern California	Main	Y	4	15.00	50%	50%	50%
Southern California	Main	Y	7	11.43	57%	43%	14%
Eastern Canada (1)	Main	Y	4	10.00	25%	50%	25%
Eastern Canada (2)	Main	Y	9	12.22	56%	67%	0%
Florida	Main	Y	4	2.50	25%	0%	0%
Great Lakes	Main	Y	10	15.00	50%	60%	40%
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main	Y	9	14.44	56%	56%	33%
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main	Y	9	10.00	44%	56%	0%
Midwest	Main	Y	9	14.44	33%	67%	44%
North	Main	Y	4	10.00	25%	50%	25%
Northeast	Main	Y	12	6.67	25%	33%	8%
Pacific	Main	Y	8	8.75	38%	38%	13%
South Central	Main	Y	6	8.33	33%	50%	0%
Southeast	Main	Y	12	9.17	42%	33%	17%
Upstate NY	Main	Y	5	12.00	60%	40%	20%

Data


Berkeley Boss Bandit	Berkeley Skeleton King	0	10	0	10
Berkeley Mighty Miner	Berkeley Little Prince	0	0	10	10
Stanford A	UCSC	10	10	10	30
Stanford B	Berkeley Archer Queen	10	0	0	10
UCLA C	Claremont A	10	0	0	10
UCSD A	UCLA B	10	10	10	30
UCLA D	Claremont C	0	0	0	0
UCLA F	Claremont B	0	0	0	0
USC B	UCSD B	0	0	10	10
UC Santa Barbara	USC A	0	0	10	10
Ottawa A	McGill A	0	0	0	0
Ottawa C	McGill C	0	0	0	0
Ottawa B	McGill B	10	10	10	30
Ottawa D	Carleton B	10	0	0	10
UCLA A	UC Irvine	10	0	10	20
McMaster A	Toronto E	10	0	10	20
McMaster C	Toronto A	0	0	10	10
Toronto C	Brock A	10	0	0	10
Queen's A	Toronto G	10	0	10	20
Toronto H	Guelph A	0	0	0	0
Toronto I	McMaster B	0	0	0	0
Toronto B	Waterloo A	10	0	10	20
Toronto D	Waterloo B	10	0	10	20
Toronto F	Waterloo C	10	0	0	10
Florida A	ERAU Daytona A	0	0	0	0
Florida Tech A	South Florida A	0	0	0	0
UCF A	Florida Tech B	0	0	0	0
Florida B	Florida State A	0	0	10	10
Louisville B	Ohio State C	10	10	0	20
WVU B	Louisville D	10	0	10	20
CWRU B	Michigan A	10	10	0	20
Michigan B	Louisville A	10	10	10	30
Ohio State B	Michigan C	10	0	10	20
Michigan State C	Louisville C	0	0	0	0
Ohio State A	Michigan State A	10	10	10	30
Ohio State D	Michigan D	0	0	0	0
CWRU C	Pittsburgh	0	0	10	10
Michigan State D	WVU A	0	0	0	0
William & Mary A	JMU B	10	10	0	20
Duke A	Liberty A	10	10	10	30
Liberty B	Virginia A	10	10	10	30
Liberty C	William & Mary B	0	0	0	0
NCSU A	UNC D	10	0	10	20
NCSU B	Tusculum A	0	0	0	0
UNC A	UNC C	10	0	0	10
William & Mary C	UNC B	0	0	10	10
JMU A	VCU A	0	0	10	10
George Mason A	Johns Hopkins	10	0	10	20
NYU A	Maryland A	10	0	0	10
Rutgers A	Penn	10	0	0	10
George Mason B	Princeton	10	0	10	20
Rutgers C	George Mason C	0	0	0	0
Columbia A	Rutgers D	10	0	0	10
Vassar A	Vassar B	0	0	0	0
Rutgers B	Lehigh B	0	0	10	10
Maryland C	Columbia B	0	0	10	10
WashU Grolars	William Woods University A	10	0	10	20
Chicago B	Chicago A	10	0	10	20
Iowa B	Illinois Blue	0	10	0	10
Rose-Hulman A	Illinois Canada	10	0	0	10
Indiana A	Illinois Champaign	0	0	0	0
Illinois Orange	Purdue A	10	10	0	20
Illinois Urbana	Indiana B	0	0	0	0
Iowa A	WashU Grizzlers	10	10	10	30
Purdue D	Purdue B	10	10	0	20
Macalester	Iowa State	0	0	0	0
Michigan Tech	St. Thomas	0	0	0	0
Wisconsin A	Minnesota	10	10	0	20
Wisconsin C	Wisconsin B	10	0	10	20
Boston College A	Harvard	0	0	0	0
Boston College B	Amherst A	10	0	10	20
Boston University A	Brown A	0	0	0	0
Dartmouth A	Brown B	0	0	0	0
Dartmouth C	Williams B	10	0	0	10
Boston University B	MIT A	0	0	0	0
Southern Connecticut State University A	Tufts B	0	0	0	0
Brandeis Bach	Tufts C	0	0	0	0
UConn A	Brandeis Beethoven	10	0	10	20
Vermont A	MIT B	10	10	0	20
Vermont B	Amherst B	0	0	0	0
Dartmouth B	Williams C	0	0	10	10
Arizona State B	Alberta A	0	0	0	0
Washington Pink	Arizona State A	10	0	0	10
Boise State	British Columbia C	0	0	10	10
British Columbia B	British Columbia A	0	0	0	0
Washington Atlantic	Washington Chinook	0	0	10	10
Washington Steelhead	Washington Coho	0	0	0	0
Washington Chum	Washington Masu	10	0	10	20
Alberta B	Washington State	10	10	0	20
Kansas State A	Nebraska C	10	0	0	10
Central Oklahoma A	Nebraska A	0	0	0	0
Central Oklahoma B	Nebraska B	0	0	10	10
Harding	Oklahoma	0	0	0	0
Tulsa A	Kansas State B	10	0	0	10
Rose State	Tulsa B	10	0	10	20
Alabama A	Tennessee B	0	0	10	10
Georgia Tech B	Auburn C	0	0	0	0
Chipola College	Clemson B	10	0	10	20
Georgia A	Clemson C	0	0	0	0
Mississippi State A	Emory A	0	0	0	0
Vanderbilt A	Georgia Tech C	10	0	0	10
Auburn A	Georgia Tech D	10	0	0	10
Montevallo	Sewanne	0	0	0	0
Georgia Tech E	South Carolina A	0	10	10	20
Tennessee Tech	Georgia Tech F	10	0	0	10
Clemson A	Vanderbilt C	0	10	10	20
Auburn B	Vanderbilt B	0	0	10	10
Binghamton A	ESF	0	0	0	0
Binghamton C	Binghamton B	0	0	0	0
Rochester	Cornell A	10	0	10	20
RIT A	Cornell B	0	0	10	10
RIT B	Cornell C	10	10	10	30