Fig. 2

Comparative analysis of carboxylation activity and solubility between 7002 and RPE Rubisco by ¹⁴C-labled method. a Rubisco soluble cellular concentration as a percentage of total cellular solution protein (%CSP), b The enzyme activity specified as the molar amount of fixed ¹⁴CO₂ divided by total cellular solution protein, c Rubisco maximal carboxylation rates (V_max) and soluble expression yields in E. coli as reported %CSP and according to labeling in Additional file 2: Table S3. The %CSP values are represented as the observed or reported yield when no additional chaperones are co-expressed alongside the Rubisco genes. Contour lines represent the %CSP yield and Rubisco carboxylation rate (V_max) required to achieve a maximum theoretical CO₂ fixation rate in vivo. This rate is represented in nmol CO₂ fixed min⁻¹ mL⁻¹ for a bioreactor culture that has an assumed average protein concentration of 1 mg mL⁻¹. P-values relative to 7002 strain indicated significance at *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01