Photosynthesis
Importance of Photosynthesis
• Transforms sunlight energy into chemical energy
stored in molecules (bonds)
• Bond energy within triose phosphate formed in
photosynthesis is transferred between organisms
within the food pyramid (more energy at bottom
than top)
– Triose phosphate (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate) is
converted to carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids
• Photosynthesis releases oxygen to atmosphere
Reactants Products
• Sunlight Triose phosphate
• Water (Glucose)
• Carbon dioxide Oxygen
H2O + CO2 + light energy (C6H12O6)+ O2
Capturing the Light
• “Light dependent reactions” take place in
chloroplast
found in mesophyll
of leaf.
– Grana within
thylakoid membrane
– Stroma-solution
Surrounding grana
Light and Pigments
• Sun light appears white, but it is actually
composed of a variety of colors called the
Visible Spectrum.
• Light can be reflected, absorbed or
transmitted by an object.
• Pigment absorb light, therefore the light
reflected or transmitted no longer appears
white
Peaks indicate
Light absorbed
Trough where light is
reflected
• The color you
see is what is
reflected.
• Ex. Chlorophyll
(a,b) absorbs
blue and red
light, but reflects
green light
Structure of Leaf
• Leaves are a plant's main photosynthetic
organs.
• Gases and water vapor come in and out of
a leaf through its stoma.
• Epidermis
– Outer layer which produces a waxy waterproof
coating.
– undersurface produces guard cells, which swell and
shrink to close and open the pores (stomata) which
control the loss of water vapor (transpiration) and the
entry of carbon dioxide.
• Mesophyll
– contain the photosynthetic cells of the leaf.
• long columnar cells nearer the surface (palisade
parenchyma)
• looser irregular cells beneath (the spongy mesophyll
parenchyma).
Chloroplast
Pigments
• Within the thylakoid
are a variety of
pigments.
– Chlorophyll a-
yellow/green
– Chlorophyll b-
blue/green
– Carotenoids - orange
• Each pigment absorbs a
different wavelength of
light.
Plants use pigment molecules for light absorption
A pigment is any substance that absorbs visible light - most
absorb only certain wavelengths and reflect or transmit the
wavelengths they don't absorb
Light harvesting pigments in plants include:
Chlorophyll a - found in all photosynthetic eukaryotes and
cyanobacteria - essential for photosynthesis in these organisms
chlorophyll b - found in vascular plants, bryophytes, green algae
and euglenoid algae - it is an accessory pigment - a pigment that
serves to broaden the range of light that can be used in
photosynthesis - the energy the accessory pigment absorbs is
transmitted to chlorophyll a
carotenoids - red, orange or yellow fat-soluble accessory
pigments found in all chloroplasts and cyanobacteria
caroteniods are embedded in thylakoids as are chlorophylls –
two types - carotenes and xanthophylls (xanthophylls have
oxygen in their structure, carotenes don't)
Some common photoreceptors are chlorophyll a & chlorophyll b.
Resembles the heme group in hemoglobin, but with central Mg
atom instead of Fe, and a long hydrophobic tail.
• Chlorophyll a is directly involved in the light
reactions of photosynthesis
• Chlorophyll b and carotenoids are
considered to be accessory pigments,
assisting Chlorophyll a in capturing light
energy.
Some other common photoreceptors.
Different photoreceptors and their absorption spectra.
What happens when a chlorophyll in a
photoreceptor absorbs light?
Exciton transfer: An
absorbed photon creates
an excited electronic
state in a photoreceptor
in an antenna molecule.
The antenna molecule
quickly transfers its
energy to the next
antenna molecule, and
eventually to a
photoreaction center.
Photolysis
• Splitting of water molecules
– Oxygen is released through stomata
– H+ picked up by NADP and pumped through thylakoid to stroma
for Calvin cycle
• Carbon Dioxide is absorbed through stomata and used in the
Calvin cycle
The electrons that are lost are replaced by splitting water
2H2O 4H+ + 4e- + O2
So 1 molecule of oxygen released requires 4 photons of light
What happens to the electrons that were
extracted from the water molecules ?
Electrons extracted from water are passed to “plastiquinone” (PQ),
which is reduced to PQH2
OH in reduced PQH2.
The electrons pulled from water by Photosystem II are used to
reduce PQ to PQH2.
4 protons from water are released into the lumen, lowering its
pH.
A pH gradient is formed between stroma & lumen.
Light Dependent Phase-thylakoid
• Groups of chlorophyll and carotenoid
pigment molecules are found in the
thylakoid membrane
– Photosystem I
– Photosystem II
• Accessory pigment molecules in both
photosystems absorb light energy causing
electrons to become excited.
• Energy is passed within the photosystem
through pigment molecules to chlorophyll a
Electron Transport Chain
• Aided by enzymes, therefore affected by temperature
• Excited electrons leave chlorophyll a molecules to a
primary electron acceptor in the stroma of the
chloroplast
• Electron acceptor donates electrons to a series of
molecules located in the thylakoid
allowing protons(H+) to move into the thylakoid
The chlorophylls and other pigments are embedded in thylakoids in discrete
units, photosystems
Each photosystem has 250 to 400 pigment molecules in two closely linked
components - the reaction center-protein complex and the antenna-protein
complex
All pigments in the photosystem are capable of absorbing photons of light,
but only one pair of those in the reaction center-protein complex can
actually use the energy in a photochemical reaction
The other pigments in the antenna protein complex act like antenna to gather
light and transfer that energy to the photochemically active pigments
There are two different kinds of photosystems Photosystem I - has
chlorophyll a - has an optimum absorption peak of 700 nanometers of light -
the chlorophyll a is called P700 because of this activity
Photosystem II - has special chlorophyll a active at 680 nanometers - the P 680
chlorophyll a
In general the two photosystems work together simultaneously and
continuously - however, photosystem I can work independently
What will happen when light is absorbed by a reaction center pigment
molecule?
When rxn center chlorophylls absorb light, electrons are temporarily
boosted to a higher energy level (excited)
One of the following things may happen to the excited electron
1. The excited chlorophyll can re-emit a photon and thereby return to its
ground state- a process known as fluorescence. When it does so, the
wavelength of fluorescence is slightly longer (and lower energy) than the
wavelength of absorption, because a portion of the excited energy is
converted into heat before the fluorescent photon is emitted. Chlorophylls
fluoresce in the red region of the spectrum.
2. The excited chlorophyll can return to its ground state by directly converting
its excitation energy into heat, with no emission of photon.
3. Chlorophyll may participate in energy transfer, during which an excited
chlorophyll transfers its energy to another molecule
4. Photochemistry-the energy of the excited state causes chemical reactions to
occur.
Phenomena in Light phase photosynthesis process
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
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
Chloroplast “light reactions”
Electron Transport Chain cont.
• Photosystem I electrons are replaced by
electrons from Photosystem II
– Photosystem II gets the electrons from splitting
water, for every 2 water split, 4 electrons are
available
– If this did not happen, photosynthesis would stop
Chemiosmosis/ATP Synthase
• Relies on a concentration gradient of protons
across the thylakoid membrane.
• Protons are pushed through ATP Synthase in
the thylaloid membrane
• Adds a phosphate group to ADP making ATP
How does ATP provide the energy?
• Chemical energy is stored in the phosphate bonds,
particularly the last one
• To release the energy, a HYDROLYSIS reaction takes
place to break the bond between the last two
phosphate molecules
• Catalysed by ATP-ase
• ATP is broken down into ADP and Pi
• For each mole of ATP hydrolysed, about 34kJ of
energy is released
• Some is lost, but the rest is useful and is used in cell
reactions
Light-independent phase of photosynthesis
Takes place in stroma of chloroplast
The Calvin cycle begins when CO2 enters the cycle and is joined to RuBP
this forms a 6 carbon compound which immediately splits into two 3 carbon
compounds (the 6 carbon intermediate has never been isolated) - the 3
carbon compound is 3-phosphoglycerate (PGA)
Because each PGA has three carbons, this is sometimes also called the C3
pathway
Each full turn of the Calvin cycle begins with entry of a CO 2 molecule and
ends when RuBP is regenerated - it takes 6 full turns of the Calvin cycle to
generate a 6 carbon sugar such as glucose
Although we usually report glucose as the product of photosynthesis, the cell
usually produces either sucrose or starch as its storage products
At night, sucrose is produced from the starch and it is transported from the
chloroplast to the rest of the cell
Summary
Carried out by Plants
• C3 plants.
– because the CO2 is first incorporated into a 3-carbon compound.
– Stomata are open during the day.
– Photosynthesis takes place throughout the leaf.
– Most plants are C3.
• C4 plants.
– because the CO2 is first incorporated into a 4-carbon compound.
– Stomata are partially open during hottest part of the day.
– into the plant very quickly, and then it "delivers" the CO2 directly to
RUBISCO for photosynthesis.
– Photosynthesis takes place in inner cells
– Ex. Corn, Sugar Cane, Crab grass
• CAM plants. CAM stands for Crassulacean Acid Metabolism
– because the CO2 is stored in the form of an acid before use in
photosynthesis.
– Stomata open at night (when evaporation rates are usually lower) and are
usually closed during the day. CAM plants include many succulents such as
cactus, agaves, bromeliads and also some orchids