Rubisco Activase Activity Assays

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activase functions as a mechano-chemical motor protein using the energy from ATP hydrolysis to contort the structure of its target protein, Rubisco. This action modulates the activation state of Rubisco by removing tightly-bound inhibitory sugar-phosphates from Rubisco’s catalytic sites, thereby restoring the sites to catalytic competence. This chapter reports methods developed for assaying the two activities of Rubisco activase: ATP hydrolysis and Rubisco activation.