Process of

Photosynthesis
● Bharath Bhat, M.Sc
● Masters in Genetics and
Molecular Biology from
University of Mysore

● 6+ years of experience in
Ed-tech industry
Light Reaction

Dark Reaction
 Photosynthesis
Plants generate food by a process called photosynthesis.
 Process of Photosynthesis
The process of photosynthesis can be divided into 2 phases.

The light dependent phase which happens in thylakoid.

The light independent phase which happens in stroma.

 Light Dependent Phase
It is also called photochemical phase.

This takes place in the thylakoid, which has the chlorophyll

pigment and works in 2 steps.

Activation of chlorophyll - Energy from photons is absorbed by

the pigment, activating it.

Splitting of water - Energy is then utilized to split the water in

the thylakoid.
 Light Dependent Phase
This reaction is called photolysis of water.

There three end results of this phase.

 Light Independent Phase
This phase is also called Biosynthetic phase or Dark phase.

The energy trapped from the sunlight in the form of ATP and
NADPH are utilized to convert CO2 into glucose.

This takes place in the stroma of the chloroplast.

The process was described by Melvin Calvin, hence called

‘Calvin Cycle’.
 Calvin Cycle
There are three important parts of the Calvin Cycle
- Fixation of CO2
- Formation of Sugar
- Regeneration of RuBP
 Fixation of CO2
The CO2 from the air combines
with 5- carbon sugar Ribulose
biphosphate.

This forms 3 carbon

compound Phosphoglyceric
Acid (PGA).

This is the first stable

compound in the Calvin cycle.
 Formation of Sugar
In this process PGA is
converted into glyceraldehyde
phosphate (G3P).

This process consumes the ATP

and NADPH produced during
the light reaction.

The G3P molecule is converted

into glucose.
 Regeneration of RuBP
The remain G3P molecule
undergo several
transformation reaction.

This is done with the

consumption of energy in the
form of ATP.

RuBP is regenerated which

can again react with CO2 and
produce more glucose.
 Glucose to Starch
Plant usually stores glucose in the form of starch.

Several glucose molecule get linked to one another to form a

polymer.

This polymer or polysaccharide is called starch.

Plants such as sugarcane converts glucose into sucrose

instead of starch.
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