MOLECULAR BIOLOGY – WORKSHEET 9 – ANSWER KEY

1.

- Most plant are green, which mean green and yellow light are reflected
- While other light color are absorbed
- There are 2 main chlorophyll types: a and b
- Chlorophyll a absorbs more red and violet light than b, while chlorophyll b absorbs more blue
and orange light than a

2.

- Violet –blue light causes the highest and orange-red are the light that cause second highest
photosynthesis rate
- green-yellow light causes the lowest

3. – Green yellow are not absorbed by chlorophyll a and b in absorption spectra

- However, they cause some photosynthesis rate to happen in the action spectra
- This indicates some leaves have other pigment that absorb green-yellow but reflect red- orange
or violet-blue light

4. 6 CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6 O2

5. - Light dependent reaction – chain reaction:

- Electron excited (filled with energy) by sun light and used to make NADPH (SL:
energy storage molecule)
 - Photolysis: break down of water (becomes oxygen and hydrogen), so the electron can
be released to replace the electron that used to make NADPH (SL: see above)
- Oxygen released as ‘waste’ product
- ATP produced

- Calvin cycle- cycle reaction:

- Carbon fixation: carbon dioxide molecules are arranged (bonded) to be a large-high-
energy molecule (glucose)
- Energy from ATP and NADPH are used to create the new bonding.

6.
light:
rate of photosynthesis increases as light intensity increases;
photosynthetic rate reaches plateau at high light levels;
CO2:
photosynthetic rate rises as CO2 concentration rises;
up to a maximum when rate levels off;
temperature:
rate of photosynthesis increases with increase in temperature;
up to optimal level / maximum;
high temperatures reduce the rate of photosynthesis;

7. – it is hypothesized that 3.5 billion years ago the ocean was very rich of iron
- then the first photosynthetic organisms started to produce oxygen
- the oxygen reacted with the iron became iron oxide and it precipitated (sank) on to the ocean
floor
- the layers of iron oxide created banded iron rock on the sea floor
- this maintained the oxygen level as low as 2%
- as the amount of iron in the ocean depleted (as it is today) the banded rock formation stopped
(750 million years ago)
- then as more photosynthetic plants emerged due to evolution, more and more oxygen released
and therefore the oxygen level today in the atmosphere is about 20%