Light and Dark Reaction

from this
to this…
• process through which
plants uses carbon dioxide,
water and light to create
their own food and
release oxygen into the air
•Photosynthetic organisms introduce chemical
energy and fixed carbon into ecosystems by
using light to synthesize sugars.
• They generate oxygen gas as by product of
photosynthesis.
• Photosynthetic organisms also remove large
quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
and use the carbon atoms to build organic
molecules.
• plants are the most common
autotrophs that we see
• the cells in a middle layer of
a leaf tissue called mesophyll are
the primary site of photosynthesis
• stomata found on the
surface of the plants let
carbon dioxide in and lets
oxygen diffuse out
• each mesophyll contains
organelles called chloroplasts,
within each chloroplast are
disc-like structures called
thylakoids that are arranged in
stacks known as grana (granum)
• the fluid-filled space
around the grana is called
stroma
•the membrane of each
thylakoid contains chlorophyll,
that absorbs light
Light and Dark
Reaction
• takes place in the
thylakoid membrane
• requires continuous
supply of light
• overall purpose of the
light-dependent reactions is
to convert light energy into
chemical energy, which will
be used in the process:
Dark reaction/ Calvin cycle
• chlorophylls absorb these
light and converts it to
chemical energy
• starts the moment the
chlorophyll absorbs light
• raw material needed is
water (H20)
• in the process chlorophyll
-
photoactivation, the e in
the chlorophyll becomes
excited when light reaches
it
• the -
e breaks free from
the chlorophyll and is
passed on from one
chlorophyll molecule to the
other until it reaches the
reaction center
• to replace the electron,
the water is split
• the splitting releases an
electron and formation
of oxygen and hydrogen
• the hydrogen ions stays
inside the thylakoid
space while the oxygen
is released into the
atmosphere
• the energy absorbed by
the chlorophyll molecule
is transferred into the
molecules of ATP and
NADPH
• Light Reaction ends
with the formation of ATP
and NADPH
• not directly driven by
light
• happening in the stroma
of the chloroplast
•Light independent uses
Carbon dioxide (CO2) as raw
material.
•Carbon dioxide came
from the surrounding
that enters through the
stomata
•It uses the product of
the light reaction: ATP and
NADPH and the raw
material carbon dioxide
•Composed of 3 stages:
➢Fixation
➢ Reduction
➢ Regeneration
• Fixation- also called as carbon-
fixing reaction
•Happening in the stroma with
the help of an enzyme called
Ribulose biphosphate carboxylase
(RuBisCo) and 3 molecules of
Ribulose Biphosphate (RuBP)
• RuBisCo catalyzes a
reaction between CO2 and
RuBP
• in every molecule of CO2,
two molecules of a 3-carbon
compound (3-
Phosphoglycerate)
• the stage ends with 6-
molecules of 3-PGA
• ATP and NADPH are
used to reduce 6-
molecules of 3-PGA into 6
molecules of glyceraldehyde 3-
phosphate (G3P)
• Some G3P molecules go
to make glucose, while
others must be recycled
to regenerate the RuBP
acceptor.
• Three turns of the Calvin cycle are
needed to make one G3P molecule that
can exit the cycle and go towards
making glucose. In three turns of the
Calvin cycle:
> Carbon. 3CO2 combine with 3RuBP
acceptors, making 6 molecules of
glyceraldehyde-3- phosphate (G3P)
➢ATP. 9 ATP are converted to 9 ADP (6 during the reduction
step, 3 during the regeneration step).
➢ NADPH. 6 NADPH are converted to 6 NADP+

A G3P molecule contains three fixed carbon

atoms, so it takes two G3Ps to build a six-
carbon glucose molecule. It would take six
turns of the cycle, or 6 CO2, 18 ATP,
and 12 NADPH, to produce one molecule of
glucose.