PHOTOSYNTHESIS

DR E. CHIRWA
 OBJECTIVES
• Describe the structure of chloroplast
• List the different types of chlorophyll
• List the functions of light in
photosynthesis
• Illustrate cyclic phosphorylation
• Illustrate none cyclic phosphorylation
• List the similarities and differences
between cyclic and non cyclic
phosphorylation
• Illustrate the calvin cycle
• Illustrate none cyclic
phosphorylation (ncp)
• Explain the movement of
electrons in ncp
• Describe how plants form oxygen
• Illustrate the Calvin circle
• Discuss the three stages of the
Calvins circle
 THE BASICS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• Almost all plants are photosynthetic autotrophs, as
are some bacteria and protists
– Autotrophs generate their own organic matter through
photosynthesis
– Sunlight energy is transformed to energy stored in the
form of chemical bonds

(c) Euglena (d) Cyanobacteria

(b) Kelp
(a) Mosses, ferns, and
flowering plants
Light Energy Harvested by Plants &
Other Photosynthetic Autotrophs

6 CO2 + 6 H2O + light energy → C6H12O6 + 6 O2

WHY ARE PLANTS GREEN?
Plant Cells
have Green
Chloroplasts

The thylakoid
membrane of the
chloroplast is
impregnated with
photosynthetic
pigments (i.e.,
chlorophylls,
carotenoids).
 THE COLOR OF LIGHT SEEN IS THE
COLOR NOT ABSORBED

• Chloroplasts
absorb light Reflected

energy and Light light

convert it to
chemical energy

Absorbed
light

Transmitted Chloroplast
light
AN OVERVIEW OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS

• Photosynthesis is the process by which

autotrophic organisms use light energy to
make sugar and oxygen gas from carbon
dioxide and water

Carbon Water Glucose Oxygen

dioxide gas
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
 AN OVERVIEW OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• The light reactions
Light
convert solar Chloroplast
energy to chemical
energy NADP
– Produce ATP & NADPH ADP
+P
Calvin
• The Calvin cycle makes Light
reactions
cycle

sugar from carbon

dioxide
– ATP generated by the light
reactions provides the energy
for sugar synthesis
– The NADPH produced by the
light reactions provides the
electrons for the reduction of
carbon dioxide to glucose
 PHOTOSYNTHESIS

• Sunlight provides
ENERGY

CO2 + H2O produces

Glucose + Oxygen

6CO2 + 6H2O
C6H12O6 + 6O2
 Fxns of light
1. It’s the source of energy
2. Light is a catalyst
3. Electron excitation
4. Splitting of the water molecule
 Steps of Photosynthesis
• Light hits reaction centers of
chlorophyll, found in chloroplasts
• Chlorophyll vibrates and causes water
to break apart.
• Oxygen is released into air
• Hydrogen remains in chloroplast
attached to NADPH
• “THE LIGHT REACTION”
 Steps of Photosynthesis

• The DARK Reactions= Calvin Cycle

• CO2 from atmosphere is joined to H
from water molecules (NADPH) to form
glucose
• Glucose can be converted into other
molecules with yummy flavors!
 Photosynthesis occurs in chloroplasts
• In most plants, photosynthesis occurs
primarily in the leaves, in the chloroplasts
• A chloroplast contains:
– stroma, a fluid
– grana, stacks of thylakoids
• The thylakoids contain chlorophyll
– Chlorophyll is the green pigment that captures
light for photosynthesis
• The location and structure of chloroplasts
Chloroplast
LEAF CROSS SECTION MESOPHYLL CELL
LEAF

Mesophyll

CHLOROPLAST Intermembrane space

Outer
membrane

Granum Inner
membrane
Grana Stroma Thylakoid
Stroma Thylakoid compartment
 Chloroplast Pigments
• Chloroplasts contain several pigments
– Chlorophyll a (blue green)
– Chlorophyll b (yellow green)
– Carotenoids (carotene and phaephytin)
– Xanthophyll ( intermediate of the other chlorophylls)

Figure 7.7
Different pigments absorb light
differently
 Light reactions
• Are dependent on light
• Can not occur in the absence of light
• They are phosphorylation rxns
• 2 types- cyclic and non cyclic
phosphorylation
 Fxns of light reactions
1. To produce ATP
2. To split the water molecule
 oxygen is produced during the
splitting of water molecules
Cyclic Photophosphorylation
• Process for ATP generation associated with
some Photosynthetic Bacteria
• Reaction Center => 700 nm
• Only PS I is involved
• Light excites electrons in PS I
• Electrons move to a higher energy level
and is picked up by an electron acceptor
(EA)
• The EA becomes reduced
• PS is now unstable because it has lost an
electron
• The EA takes the electron to the electron
transport chain (etc) were the energy from
the electron drives the production of ATP
from ADP and Pi (phosphorylation)
• When the electron loses the energy its
returned to PS I
• PS I becomes stable
• The electron can be excited in a similar
manner again
• Two types of
photosystems
cooperate in the
light reactions

Photon
ATP
mill
Photon

Water-splitting NADPH-producing
photosystem photosystem
Noncyclic Photophosphorylation
• Photosystem II regains electrons by splitting
water, leaving O2 gas as a Primary
by-product
El
ec
tr on
electron acceptor tra
ns
po
rt
Primary
El
electron acceptor ec
tro
n
tra
ns
po
rt
ch
ai n

Photons

Energy for
synthesis of

PHOTOSYSTEM I

PHOTOSYSTEM II by chemiosmosis
• Light excites e from PS I and PS II and
splits water into H+ and OH-.
• OH- ions react to form water + oxygen and
electrons
• The hydrogen is picked up by the NADP
which also picks up the e fom PS I.
NADPH and electrons
dark reactions
• The EA which picks up the electron from
PS II takes the electron to the etc were the
energy from the e drives the production of
ATP from ADP and Pi. This e is then taken
to PS I – PS I becomes stable
• Electrons from the split water molecule
stabilize PS II
Plants produce O2 gas by splitting H2O

• The O2 liberated by photosynthesis is made

from the oxygen in water (H+ and e-)
 In the light reactions, electron transport
chains generate ATP, NADPH, & O2

• Two connected photosystems collect

photons of light and transfer the energy to
chlorophyll electrons
• The excited electrons are passed from the
primary electron acceptor to electron
transport chains
– Their energy ends up in ATP and NADPH
 Chemiosmosis powers ATP
synthesis in the light reactions
• The electron transport chains are arranged
with the photosystems in the thylakoid
membranes and pump H+ through that
membrane
– The flow of H+ back through the membrane is
harnessed by ATP synthase to make ATP
– In the stroma, the H+ ions combine with NADP+
to form NADPH
How the Light Reactions Generate ATP and NADPH
Primary NADP
electron
acceptor
Energy
Primary to make
3
electron
acceptor 2

Light
E le
ctr
on
tra
n sp
ort
Light ch
ain

Primary
electron
acceptor

Reaction-
1 center NADPH-producing
chlorophyll photosystem

Water-splitting
photosystem
2 H + 1/2
 • The production of ATP by chemiosmosis in
photosynthesis

Thylakoid
compartment
(high H+) Light Light

Thylakoid
membrane

Antenna
molecules

Stroma ELECTRON TRANSPORT

(low H+) CHAIN

PHOTOSYSTEM II PHOTOSYSTEM I ATP SYNTHASE

Summary—Light Dependent
Reactions

a. Overall input
light energy, H2O.
b. Overall output
ATP, NADPH, O2.
• Animation is of the Calvin Cycle Note
what happens to the carbon dioxide
and what the end product is.
• Second animation of the Calvin Cycle
is very clear and even does the
molecular bookkeeping for you.
 Light Independent Reactions
aka Calvin Cycle
Carbon from CO2 is
converted to glucose

(ATP and NADPH

drive the reduction
of CO2 to C6H12O6.)
 Light Independent Reactions
aka Calvin Cycle
CO2 is added to the 5-C sugar RuBP by the
enzyme rubisco.
This unstable 6-C compound splits to two
molecules of PGA or 3-phosphoglyceric acid.

PGA is converted to Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate

(G3P), two of which bond to form glucose.

G3P is the 3-C sugar formed by three turns of the

cycle.
Summary—Light Independent
Reactions

a. Overall input
CO2, ATP, NADPH.
b. Overall output
glucose.
 Review: Photosynthesis uses light
energy to make food molecules

• A summary of
Chloroplast
the chemicalLight

processes of
photosynthesis Photosystem II
Electron
transport CALVIN
chains CYCLE Stroma
Photosystem I

Elec
tron
s
Cellular
respiration
Cellulose
Starch
Other
LIGHT REACTIONS CALVIN CYCLE organic
compounds
• Carbon fixation.a carbon dioxide
molecule combines with a five-carbon
acceptor molecule, ribulose-1,5-
bisphosphate (RuBP). This step makes a
six-carbon compound that splits into two
molecules of a three-carbon compound, 3-
phosphoglyceric acid (3-PGA). This
reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme RuBP
carboxylase/oxygenase, or rubisco
• Reduction. In the second stage, ATP and
NADPH are used to convert the 3-PGA
molecules into molecules of a three-
carbon sugar, glyceraldehyde-3-
phosphate (G3P). This stage gets its
name because NADPH donates electrons
to, or reduces, a three-carbon
intermediate to make G3P.