C₄ Pathway vs C₃ Pathway Differences — NEET Biology
📚 Practice ConceptPlants that are adapted to dry tropical regions have the C₄ pathway mentioned earlier. 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. Then, in what way are they different from C₃ plants? This is a question that you may reasonably ask.
Q33. A plant in your garden avoids photorespiratory losses, has improved water use efficiency, shows high rates of photosynthesis at high temperatures and has improved efficiency of nitrogen utilisation. In which of the following physiological groups would you assign this plant? (NEET 2016 Phase 1)
View solution & NCERT explanation
Correct answer: C — C₄
C₄ plants are adapted to high temperature and arid environments. They show Kranz anatomy and avoid photorespiration by initially fixing CO₂ into a four-carbon compound using PEP carboxylase in mesophyll cells. This enhances nitrogen use efficiency and ensures high productivity under stress conditions.
What does NCERT say about Plants that are adapted?
Has this concept appeared in NEET?
Which chapter is this from?
Through deep analysis of NEET and NTA, 176 of the 180 ReNEET 2026 (June 21) questions were already in the MedicNEET question bank before the exam.
176/180MedicNEET's Biology question bank is built from the same NCERT lines NTA picks repeatedly. Not random MCQs — questions crafted exactly like NTA crafts them.