2.

Light-independent reactions

- Also known as “dark reactions”

- Light is not necessary but can continue in light as well if products of the light reaction, NADPH and ATP are
available.
- Occurs in the stroma

TWO MAJOR PATHWAYS BY WHICH CO2 FIXATION OCCURS:

1. C3 Cycle (Calvin Cycle) - It captures CO2 and turns into sugar (The sugar that is produced is not glucose. This is
formed later on. The sugar produced is a three-carbon sugar known as G3P or glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.)
- this cycle only occurs once
- The cycle has three phases or stages in order to create one molecule of G3P from the molecules of CO2
- It captures CO2 and turns into sugar (The sugar that is produced is not glucose. This is formed later on. The sugar
produced is a three-carbon sugar known as G3P or glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.)
- This process was first identified in 1957 by Dr. Melvin Calvin, a U.S. biochemist.
- Photorespiration occurs (excess of oxygen is an inhibitor of photosynthesis). Therefore, it is less efficient.

✓ THREE PHASES OF THE CALVIN CYCLE:

1. Carbon Fixation
- A process by which plants fix CO2 into an organic material
- In this phase, the CO2 molecule is attached to a five-carbon sugar molecule named ribulose biphosphate (RuBP).
The resulting product, a six-carbon sugar, is extremely unstable so it is aided by an enzyme named rubisco or
RuBP carboxylase. Rubisco is believed to be the most abundant protein in the chloroplast and maybe on Earth.
This immediately splits the six-carbon sugar in half. The split forms two molecules of a 3-phosphoglycerate (3-
PGA), a three-carbon compound.
- NOTE: RuBP is not efficient if CO2 concentration is low.

2. Reduction
- A phosphate group (from ATP) is then attached to each 3-PGA by an enzyme, forming 1,3-biphosphoglycerate.
- NADPH swoops in and reduces 1,3-biphosphogycerate to G3P or triose phosphate.
- For every six G3Ps produced by the Calvin Cycle, five are recycled to regenerate three molecules of RuBP. Only
one G3P leaves the cycle to be packaged for use by the cell.
- It will take two molecules of G3P to make one molecule of glucose.
- The ADP and NADP+ that is formed during the Calvin Cycle will be transported back to the thylakoid membrane
and will enter the light reactions. Here, they will be ‘recharged’ with energy and become ATP and NADPH.

3. Regeneration of RuBP
- Five molecules of G3P undergo a series of complex enzymatic reactions to form three molecules of RuBP. This
costs the cell another three molecules of ATP, but also provides another set of RuBP to continue the cycle.

What happens to G3P after its release from the cycle?

• Two G3Ps can combine together to form either glucose or fructose which are both are six-carbon sugar.
• Glucose and fructose can be combined to form sucrose.

• Glucose can be connected in chains to form starch.

• G3Ps can also be used in lipid and protein synthesis.

- The cost of making carbohydrate:

To make one molecule of G3P, the chloroplast needs:

• 3 molecules of CO2

• 9 molecules of ATP

• 6 molecules of NADPH

2. C4 Cycle (Hatch Slack Cycle)

- This cycle occurs twice (first in the mesophyll cells, next in the bundle sheath cells)
- It is an adaptation for plants growing under dry , hot environment. These plants can photosynthesize even in the
conditions of very low CO2 concentration and under partial closure of stomata. Also, such plants can grow at low
water content, high temperature, and high light intensity like sugarcane and maize.
- Photo respiration (oxidation of RuBP in presence of O2) is absent in these plants). In other words, the
photosynthetic rate is high.

✓ Kranz Anatomy
- “Kranz” means “wreath”
- Leaves possesses two types of chloroplasts (dimorphic chloroplasts)
- Chloroplasts in the mesophyll cells are smaller and have well-developed grana (granal chloroplasts) but don’t
accumulate starch.
- Chloroplasts in the bundle sheath cells are larger and lack grana (agranal chloroplasts) but contains numerous
starch grains.

✓ PHASES OF HATCH SLACK CYCLE

1. Carboxylation
- Occurs in the chloroplasts of mesophyll cells, phosphoenol pyruvic acid or PEP, a 3-carbon compound combines
with CO2 in the presence of PEP carboxylase, an enzyme, andforms a oxaloacetic acid (OAA), a 4-carbon
compound.
2. OAA travels to the chloroplasts of bundle sheath cell where it releases the fixed CO2. Calvin Cycle operates
within these cells and CO2 immediately combines with RuBP in the Calvin Cycle producing sugars.

• Internal factors influencing photosynthesis:

1. Chlorophyll: The amount of chlorophyll directly impacts photosynthesis as it is crucial for trapping light energy
during the light reactions.
2. Leaf age and anatomy: Photosynthesis rate increases in newly expanding leaves, reaching its peak at full leaf size.
Aging leaves experience declining chloroplast function, influenced by factors like number, structure, and
 distribution of stomata, intercellular space size ad distribution, palisade and spongy tissue distribution, and
cuticle thickness.
3. Demand for photosynthate: Rapidly growing plants exhibit higher photosynthesis rates compared to mature
plants. A decrease in meristematic activity leads to a decline in photosynthetic rate when the demand for
photosynthate decreases.

• External factors:

1. Temperature: At low temperatures, the rate of photosynthesis is limited by the number of collisions between
enzymes and substrate. As temperature increases, the rate of photosynthesis also increases. However, at high to
extreme temperatures, enzymes are denatured, causing for the rate of photosynthesis to decrease.

2. Light and Carbon Dioxide: Photosynthesis rate is directly proportional to light intensity, with red and, to some
extent, blue light enhancing the process. The compensation point is the light intensity where CO₂ used in
photosynthesis equals the CO₂ produced in respiration. The wavelength of light absorbed by photosynthetic
pigments, along with the proportion of sunlight absorbed by plants, also affects the rate of photosynthesis, with
only about 1-2% of incident light being absorbed.
3. Water indirectly affects photosynthesis, as soil water loss leads to wilting and stomatal closure, hampering CO₂
absorption. Oxygen, a by-product of photosynthesis, isn’t a limiting factor, but excess O₂ can reduce
photosynthesis by promoting aerobic respiration.

4. Mineral elements, such as magnesium, copper, manganese, and chloride ions, crucial for photosynthetic
enzymes and chlorophyll synthesis, indirectly influence photosynthesis. Their deficiency affects enzyme and
chlorophyll production, impacting the overall rate of photosynthesis.

• CHEMOSYNTHESIS (as a additional information)

- A process of carbohydrate synthesis

- The method of carbon assimilation when the reduction of CO2 is carried out in darkness, utilizing the energy
obtained from oxidation of inorganic substances like hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and ammonia (NH3).
✓ Chemosynthetic bacteria
- bacteria which can utilize chemical energy released during biological oxidation of certain inorganic substances to
reduce carbon dioxide to carbohydrate.
- Common chemosynthetic bacterias:
1. Nitrifying bacteria. Nitrosomanas and Nitrobactor oxidise NH3 to Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
2. Sulphur Bacteria
3. Iron bacteria
4. Hydrogen and methane producing bacteria
DIFFERENCE OF CHEMOSYNTHESIS AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS:

✓ Chemiosmosis or Chemiosmotic Synthesis:

- Process which energy stored as hydrogen ion gradient across a membrane is used to synthesize ATP from ADP
and Pi.
- Chloroplasts use this to generate ATP during photosynthesis.
- Peter Mitchell won the Nobel Prize in 1978 for proposing the chemiosmotic model for ATP Synthesis.