Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate (G3P)

Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate is a chemical compound that occurs as an intermediate in several central metabolic pathways of all organisms. It is a phosphate ester of the 3-carbon sugar glyceraldehyde and has chemical formula C3H7O6P. During plant photosynthesis, 2 molecules of glycerate 3-phosphate are produced by the first step of the light-independent reactions when ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) and carbon dioxide are catalysed by the rubisco enzyme. The GP is converted to D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P) using the energy in ATP and the reducing power of NADPH as part of the Calvin cycle. G3P is generally considered the prime end-product of photosynthesis and it can be used as an immediate food nutrient, combined and rearranged to form monosaccharide sugars, such as glucose, which can be transported to other cells, or packaged for storage as insoluble polysaccharides such as starch.