How does Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase / Oxygenase help in Photosynthesis? and why is there a / in between Carboxylase and Oxygenase?

Question

anonymous · Answer

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase / Oxygenase (aka Rubisco) is the carbon fixing enzmye that provides the rate limiting step of the Calvin cycle. It catalyses the joining of CO2 to the five-carbon Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate to form two molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate. It is important in the light independent stage of photosynthesis to fix carbon for use in the metabolic pathways. 
The presence of the / is to show that it has two seperate roles - carboxylase and oxgenase activity. The carboxlyation is the adding of the CO2 to the 5-carbon product as seen in carbon fixation whereas oxygenase is adding an oxygen to the product.