8 Identifying Photosynthetic Reactants and Products Photosynthesis, the biochemical process by which plants capture energy from sunlight and store it in.

8 Identifying PhotosyntheticReactants and Products

• Photosynthesis, the biochemical process by which plants capture energy from sunlight and store it in carbohydrates, is the very basis of life on Earth

•Animations

8 Identifying PhotosyntheticReactants and Products

• 6 CO2 + 12 H2O C6H12O6 + 6 O2 + 6 H2O

Three ingredients are needed for photosynthesis: water, CO2, and light.

There are two products: carbohydrates and O2.

The water, which comes primarily from the soil, is transported through the roots to the leaves.

The CO2 is taken in from the air through stomata, or pores, in the leaves.

Figure 8.1 The Ingredients for Photosynthesis

8 The Two Pathways of Photosynthesis: An Overview

• Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts of green plant cells and consists of many reactions.

• Photosynthesis can be divided into two pathways:

The light reaction is driven by light energy captured by chlorophyll. It produces ATP and NADPH + H+.

The Calvin–Benson cycle does not use light directly. It uses ATP, NADPH + H+, and CO2 to produce sugars.

Figure 8.3 An Overview of Photosynthesis (Part 1)

8 The Interactions of Light and Pigments

• Visible light is part of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. It comes in discrete packets called photons.

• Two things are required for photons to be active in a biological process:

Photons must be absorbed by receptive molecules.

Photons must have sufficient energy to perform the chemical work required.


• When a photon and a pigment molecule meet, one of three things happens: The photon may bounce off, pass through,or be absorbed by the molecule.

• If absorbed, the energy of the photon is acquired by the molecule.

• The molecule is raised from its ground state to an excited state of higher energy.

Figure 8.4 Exciting a Molecule


• Molecules that absorb wavelengths in the visible range are called pigments.

• In the case of chlorophyll, plants look green because they absorb green light less effectively than the other colors found in sunlight.


• Plants have two predominant chlorophylls: chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b.

• These chlorophylls absorb blue and red wavelengths, which are near the ends of the visible spectrum.

• Other accessory pigments absorb photons between the red and blue wavelengths and then transfer a portion of that energy to chlorophylls.

• Examples of accessory pigments are the carotenoids, such as -carotene.

Figure 8.7 The Molecular Structure of Chlorophyll


• A pigment molecule enters an excited state when it absorbs a photon.

• This energy can be passed on to other pigment molecules and eventually end


• Pigments in photosynthetic organisms are arranged into antenna systems.

• In these systems, pigments are packed together and attached to thylakoid membrane proteins to enable the transfer of energy.

• The energy is passed to the reaction center of the antenna complex.

• In plants, the pigment molecule in the center is always a molecule of chlorophyll a.

Figure 8.8 Energy Transfer and Electron Transport

8 The Light Reactions: Electron Transport, Reductions, and Photophosphorylation

• The energized electron that leaves the Chl* in the reaction center immediately participates in a series of redox reactions.

• The electron flows through a series of carriers in the thylakoid membrane, a process termed electron transport.

• Two energy rich products of the light reactions, NADPH + H+ and ATP, are the result.

• Chemiosmotic synthesis of ATP in the thylakoid membrane is called photophosphorylation.

• Animation


• Photosystems are light-driven molecular units that consist of many chlorophyll molecules and accessory pigments bound to proteins in separate energy-absorbing antenna systems.


• Photosystem I uses light energy to reduce NADP+ to NADPH + H+.

• The reaction center contains a chlorophyll a molecule called P700 because it best absorbs light at a wavelength of 700 nm.


• Photosystem II uses light energy to oxidize water molecules, producing electrons, protons, and O2.

• The reaction center contains a chlorophyll a molecule called P680 because it best absorbs light at a wavelength of 680 nm.

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Figure 8. 9 Noncyclic Electron Transport Uses Two Photosystems (Part 1)

Figure 8. 9 Noncyclic Electron Transport Uses Two Photosystems (Part 2)


• ATP is produced by a chemiosmotic mechanism similar to that of mitochondria, called photophosphorylation.

• High-energy electrons move through a series of redox reactions, releasing energy that is used to transport protons across the membrane.

• Active proton transport results in the proton-motive force: a difference in pH and electric charge across the membrane.

Figure 8.11 Chloroplasts Form ATP Chemiosmotically

8 Making Carbohydrate from CO2:The Calvin–Benson Cycle

• The reactions of the Calvin-Benson cycle take place in the stroma of the chloroplasts.

• This cycle does not use sunlight directly; but it requires the ATP and NADPH + H+ produced in the light reactions, and these can not be “stockpiled”.

• Thus the Calvin-Benson reactions require light indirectly and take place only in the presence of light.


• The initial reaction of the Calvin–Benson cycle fixes (attaches) one CO2 to a 5-carbon compound, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP).

• An intermediate 6-carbon compound forms, which is unstable and breaks down to form two 3-carbon molecules of 3PG.

• The enzyme that catalyzes the fixation of CO2 is ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, called rubisco.

• Rubisco is the most abundant protein in the world.

Figure 8.14 RuBP Is the Carbon Dioxide Acceptor


• The Calvin–Benson cycle consists of three processes:

Fixation of CO2, by combination with RuBP (catalyzed by rubisco)

Conversion of fixed CO2 into carbohydrate (G3P) (this step uses ATP and NADPH)

Regeneration of the CO2 acceptor RuBP by ATP


• The end product of the cycle is glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, G3P.

• There are two fates for the G3P:

One-third ends up as starch, which is stored in the chloroplast and serves as a source of glucose.

Two-thirds is converted to the disaccharide sucrose, which is transported to other organs.

Figure 8.13 The Calvin-Benson Cycle


• The products of the Calvin–Benson cycle are vitally important to the biosphere as they are the total energy yield from sunlight conversion by green plants.

• Most of the stored energy is released by glycolysis and cellular respiration by the plant itself.

• Some of the stored energy is consumed by heterotrophs, where glycolysis and respiration release the stored energy.

8 Photorespiration and Its Consequences

• Rubisco is a carboxylase, adding CO2 to RuBP. It can also be an oxygenase, adding O2 to RuBP.

• These two reactions compete with each other.

• When RuBP reacts with O2, it cannot react with CO2, which reduces the rate of CO2 fixation.


• Photorespiration uses the ATP and NADPH produced in the light reaction.

• CO2 is released instead of being fixed into a carbohydrate.

• Rubisco acts as an oxygenase if the CO2 levels are very low and the O2 levels are very high.

• O2 levels become very high when stomata are closed to prevent water loss (when the weather is hot and dry).


• C3 plants have a layer of mesophyll cells below the leaf surface.

• Mesophyll cells are full of chloroplasts and rubisco.

• On hot days the stomata close, O2 builds up, and photorespiration occurs.


• C4 plants have two enzymes for CO2 fixation in different chloroplasts, in different locations in the leaf.

• PEP carboxylase is present in the mesophyll cells. It fixes CO2 to 3-C phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to form 4-C oxaloacetate.

• PEP carboxylase does not have oxygenase activity. It fixes CO2 even when the level of CO2 is extremely low.


• The oxaloacetate diffuses into the bundle sheath cells in the interior of the leaf which contain abundant rubisco.

• The oxaloacetate loses one C, forming CO2 and regenerating the PEP.

• The process pumps up the concentration around rubisco to start the Calvin-Benson cycle.

Figure 8.17 (b) The Anatomy and Biochemistry of C4 Carbon Fixation


• CAM plants use PEP carboxylase to fix and accumulate CO2 while their stomata are closed.

• These plants conserve water by keeping stomata closed during the daylight hours and opening them at night.

• In CAM plants, CO2 is fixed in the mesophyll cells to form oxaloacetate, which is then converted to malic acid.

• The fixation occurs during the night, when less water is lost through the open stomata.

• During the day, the malic acid moves to the chloroplast, where decarboxylation supplies CO2 for the Calvin–Benson cycle.

8 Metabolic Pathways in Plants

• Green plants are autotrophs and can synthesize all their molecules from three simple starting materials: CO2, H2O, and NH4.

• To satisfy their need for ATP, plants, like all other organisms, carry out cellular respiration.

• Both aerobic respiration and fermentation can occur in plants, although respiration is more common.

• Cellular respiration takes place both in the dark and in the light.

Figure 8.18 Metabolic Interactions in a Plant Cell (Part 1)

8 Metabolic Pathways in Plants

• Energy flows from sunlight to reduced carbon in photosynthesis to ATP in respiration.

• Energy can be stored in macromolecules such as polysaccharides, lipids, and proteins.

• For plants to grow, energy storage must exceed energy released or overall carbon fixation by photosynthesis must exceed respiration.

• The capture and movement of sun energy becomes the basis for ecological food chains.

8 Identifying Photosynthetic Reactants and Products Photosynthesis, the biochemical process by which plants capture energy from sunlight and store it in.

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