UNDERSTANDIN

G
PHOTOSYNTHESI
S
Learning Objectives:
The learners shall be able to:
1. identify cell structure and function involved in
the food-making process;

2. identify the raw materials and end products of

photosynthesis;

3. investigate evidences that plants are really

capable of food making;

4. describe the phases involved in photosynthesis;

and

5. analyze the importance of photosynthesis on the

quality and quantity of harvest.
Photosynthesis is a process of food
making done by plants and other
autotrophic organisms.
 The energy that comes from the sun is called light
energy.

It travels as wave and is described in terms of its energy

content and its wavelength. It comes as discrete packets
called photons.

The component of light energy that is important to

photosynthesis is the visible light. Visible light is a white
light.
Plants have green pigments called chlorophyll stored in the
chloroplast. This pigment aids in capturing light energy
from the sun that enables plants to change it into chemical
energy stored in the food.
The summary equation for photosynthesis is as follows.
 In plants, photosynthesis primarily
takes place in the leaves and little or
none in stems depending on the
presence of chlorophyll.

The typical parts of the leaves include

the upper and lower epidermis,
mesophyll spongy layer, vascular
bundles, and stomates.
 The upper and lower epidermis
protects the leaves and has nothing to
do with photosynthetic processes.

Mesophyll has the most number of

chloroplasts that contain chlorophyll.
They
are important in trapping light energy
from the sun.
 Vascular bundles - phloem and
xylem serve as transporting vessels
of manufactured food and water.

Carbon dioxide and oxygen were

collected in the spongy layer and
enters and exits the leaf through the
stomata.
 Chloroplasts are plant cell
organelles that convert light energy
into chemical energy via the
photosynthetic process.

The parts of a chloroplast include

the outer and inner membranes,
intermembrane space, stroma and
thylakoids stacked in grana. The
chlorophyll is built into the
membranes of the thylakoids.
 At the lower epidermis, you will
see some openings. Each opening is
called stoma (stomata). This is
where carbon dioxide enters, and
oxygen passes out.
LIGHT-DEPENDENT
REACTION
Light-dependent reaction is the first
phase of photosynthesis which
requires light, chlorophyll and
water.

It happens in the presence of light,

occurs in the thylakoid membrane
and converts light energy to
chemical energy.
LIGHT REACTION INVOLVES
THREE MAJOR
INTERRELATED EVENTS:
1. Chlorophyll photoactivation. This
is accomplished when light energy is
absorbed by chlorophyll molecules
resulting in the release of energized
electrons. We may represent this
event by the formula diagram:
2. Photolysis. The energy of electrons
from chlorophyll molecules is used to
separate water molecules into
charged particles or ions, namely,
hydrogen ions and electrons. Oxygen
is released as a by-product. Using
two molecules of water, photolysis
may be represented as follows:
Take note that oxygen released by
plants is produced during the light
reaction of photosynthesis.
3. Photophosphorylation. The
hydrogen ions, one of the products of
photolysis, become attached to a
certain compound in the chloroplast
which we represent simply with the
abbreviation NADP (Nicotinamide
Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate).
3. By combining with the hydrogen
ions from water and the energized
electrons from chlorophyll, NADP
becomes NADPH (Nicotinamide
Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate
Hydrogen) as shown below:
 Parts of the energy of the electrons of chlorophyll is used to form a
compound rich in potential energy. It is a compound which contains
the element phosphorus and abbreviated as ATP (Adenosine
Triphosphate). Since the production of ATP uses energy absorbed by
chlorophyll from light, the process is called photophosphorylation.
The products of light-dependent reactions are oxygen gas (O2), ATP
and NADPH. Both NADPH and ATP are rich in potential energy.
They are the source of energy used during the dark reaction of
photosynthesis.
LIGHT-INDEPENDENT
REACTION
 Calvin Cycle (dark reaction) is a light-
independent phase that takes place in the
stroma and converts carbon dioxide (CO2)
into sugar. This phase does not directly
need light but needs the products of light
reaction. This is why it occurs immediately
after the light-dependent phase. ATP and
NADPH are high-energy molecules. The
energy could be harnessed in making food
out of carbon dioxide.
 How do plants fix carbon dioxide into food? First carbon dioxide enters the leaf
through the stomata. It goes into the mesophyll layers and moves to the stroma of
the chloroplast. Here, carbon dioxide collides with 5- carbon compound called
ribulose-1, 5-biphosphate (RUBP) to yield 6-carbon-containing sugar. The process
is catalyzed by RUBP carboxylase.
The 6-carbon compound is broken into two molecules of 3-carbon sugar,
phosphoglycerate (PGA). This requires two molecules of ATP.
The 2 molecules of PGA are converted into 2 molecules of phosphoglyceraldehyde
(PGAL), a 3-carbon compound. PGAL is the first stable product of photosynthesis.
It needs 2 molecules of NADPH.
 The process occurs in a cyclic manner as shown in the left figure. Since the first
stable product is composed of 3 carbon atoms, it is called C3 Cycle. Melvin Calvin
unlocked this process. It is also named as Calvin Cycle.
Three turns of Calvin Cycle are necessary to produce one net gain of PGAL. Five
PGAL molecules are needed to regenerate 3 molecules of RUBP. The three turns
use up 9 molecules of ATP and 6 molecules of NADPH. PGAL is a substance used
by plants to make other organic substances.

An example of these organic substances synthesized by plants is glucose, which is

the product of dark reaction. To make one glucose molecule, a 6-carbon sugar, two
molecules of PGAL are linked. This means six turns of Calvin cycle.
 In summary, there are two phases of photosynthesis:
(a) Light-dependent Reaction and
(b) Light-independent Reaction /Calvin Cycle (dark reaction).

LIGHT-DEPENDENT
REACTION

LIGHT-INDEPENDENT
REACTION