Photosynthesis

• Life depends on
photosynthesis
• Sunlight is the energy
source
• Light reactions
• Carbon reactions
• C4 and CAM
 Photosynthesis Basics
• Process by which plants, algae, and some
bacteria convert solar energy into
chemical energy
• Plants produce glucose from CO2 and H2O
• Photosynthesis involves paired redox
reactions
• Glucose used to run the plant
– Excess stored as starch or sucrose
 Photosynthesis History
• Photosynthesis evolved roughly 3.5 billion
years ago
• Became the primary source of energy on
earth
• Autotroph: those who make their own food
• Heterotroph: those who eat their food
• Effects on environment:
– Reduced CO2, reduced temp, increased O2
 Light
• Electromagnetic spectrum: range of
possible frequencies of radiation
– Composed of photons that travel in waves
– Wavelength is the distance from the crest of
one wave to the crest of the next wave
• Visible light only a tiny portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum
 Chloroplasts
• 2 outer membranes + folded
thylakoids
– Between outer membranes and
thylakoids is stroma
– Inside is thylakoid space
• Many pigments involved,
chlorophyll a is most abundant
– Chlorophyll a appears green
(absorbs red, blue)
 Photosynthesis: the Stages
• Light reactions
– Convert solar energy to chemical energy
– Occurs in the thylakoid membranes
– Produces ATP, NADPH
• Carbon reactions
– Reduce CO2 to glucose using ATP, NADPH
from light reactions
– Occurs in the stroma
 The Light Reactions
• Pigments arranged into photosystems
– Antenna pigments capture photons of various
wavelengths and channel the energy to the
reaction center chlorophyll
– Reaction center chlorophyll passes now high
energy electron to the Primary Electron
Acceptor
• Photosystem I and II connected by an
electron transport chain
 Photosystem II
• Chlorophyll a electrons excited by light
– Passed to ETC
– Replaced by splitting water (protons and
oxygen produced)
• Electrons passed down ETC
– Protons moved from stroma to thylakoid
space as electrons are passed
• ATP synthase uses proton gradient to
phosphorylate ADP
– ATP produced in stroma
 Photosystem I
• Light energizes reaction center chlorophyll
– Electrons passed to ETC
– Electrons replaced by those from PsII
• Electrons used to reduce NADP+ to
NADPH
 The Carbon Reactions
• ATP + NADPH + CO2 + H2O glucose
– CO2 enters through stomata
• Calvin cycle- where carbon gets fixed
– CO2 combines with RuBP (5C compound)
– First step catalyzed by rubisco
– 6C compound breaks down and is rearranged
into PGAL
– Some PGAL recycled into RuBP, some used
to produce glucose, sucrose
 Types of Plants
• C3
– Most plants are C3
• C3 problem: photorespiration
– Rubisco can bind either oxygen or carbon
dixoide
– Oxygen cannot be used to make glucose,
costs energy to recycle the RuBP
– Hot, dry conditions increase photorespiration
 Reducing Photorespiration
• C4
– CO2 bound to 3C compound to form 4C
compound in mesophyll cells
– 4C compound moved to bundle sheath cells
where CO2 released into Calvin cycle
• CAM
– Open stomata at night, fix CO2 into 4C
compound, store 4C compound in vacuole
until light
– CO2 released from 4C compound during day
into Calvin cycle