CHAPTER 8

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Photosynthesis Overview
Energy for all life on Earth ultimately comes
from photosynthesis

6CO2 + 12H2O

C6H12O6 + 6H2O + 6O2

Oxygenic photosynthesis is carried out by

Cyanobacteria
7 groups of algae
All land plants chloroplasts
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Chloroplast
Thylakoid membrane internal membrane
Contains chlorophyll and other photosynthetic
pigments
Pigments clustered into photosystems

Grana stacks of flattened sacs of thylakoid

membrane
Stroma lamella connect grana
Stroma semiliquid surrounding thylakoid
membranes
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Stages
Light-dependent reactions
Require light
1.Capture energy from sunlight
2.Make ATP and reduce NADP+ to NADPH

Carbon fixation reactions or lightindependent reactions

Does not require light
3.Use ATP and NADPH to synthesize organic
molecules from CO2
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Pigments
Molecules that absorb light energy in the
visible range
Light is a form of energy
Photon particle of light
Acts as a discrete bundle of energy
Energy content of a photon is inversely
proportional to the wavelength of the light

 Organisms have evolved a variety of

different pigments
Only two general types are used in green
plant photosynthesis
Chlorophylls
Carotenoids

In some organisms, other molecules also

absorb light energy
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Chlorophylls
Chlorophyll a
Main pigment in plants and cyanobacteria
Only pigment that can act directly to convert
light energy to chemical energy
Absorbs violet-blue and red light

Chlorophyll b
Accessory pigment or secondary pigment
absorbing light wavelengths that chlorophyll a
does not absorb
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 Carotenoids
Carbon rings linked to
chains with alternating
single and double
bonds
Can absorb photons
with a wide range of
energies
Also scavenge free
radicals antioxidant
Protective role

Phycobiloproteins
Important in low-light
ocean areas
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Photosystem Organization
Antenna complex
Hundreds of accessory pigment molecules
Gather photons and feed the captured light
energy to the reaction center

Reaction center
1 or more chlorophyll a molecules
Passes excited electrons out of the
photosystem
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Cyclic photophosphorylation
In sulfur bacteria, only one photosystem is
used
Generates ATP via electron transport
Anoxygenic photosynthesis
Excited electron passed to electron
transport chain
Generates a proton gradient for ATP
synthesis
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Chloroplasts have two connected

photosystems
Oxygenic photosynthesis
Photosystem I (P700)
Functions like sulfur bacteria

Photosystem II (P680)
Can generate an oxidation potential high enough to
oxidize water

Working together, the two photosystems carry out

a noncyclic transfer of electrons that is used to
generate both ATP and NADPH
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 Photosystem I transfers electrons

ultimately to NADP+, producing NADPH
Electrons lost from photosystem I are
replaced by electrons from photosystem II
Photosystem II oxidizes water to replace
the electrons transferred to photosystem I
2 photosystems connected by
cytochrome/ b6-f complex
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Noncyclic photophosphorylation
Plants use photosystems II and I in series
to produce both ATP and NADPH
Path of electrons not a circle
Photosystems replenished with electrons
obtained by splitting water
Z diagram

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Chemiosmosis
Electrochemical gradient can be used to
synthesize ATP
Chloroplast has ATP synthase enzymes in
the thylakoid membrane
Allows protons back into stroma

Stroma also contains enzymes that

catalyze the reactions of carbon fixation
the Calvin cycle reactions
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Carbon Fixation Calvin Cycle

To build carbohydrates cells use
Energy
ATP from light-dependent reactions
Cyclic and noncyclic photophosphorylation
Drives endergonic reaction

Reduction potential
NADPH from photosystem I
Source of protons and energetic electrons
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3 phases
1. Carbon fixation
RuBP + CO2 PGA

2. Reduction
PGA is reduced to G3P

3. Regeneration of RuBP
PGA is used to regenerate RuBP

3 turns incorporate enough carbon to produce a

new G3P
6 turns incorporate enough carbon for 1 glucose
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Photorespiration
Rubisco has 2 enzymatic activities
Carboxylation
Addition of CO2 to RuBP
Favored under normal conditions

Photorespiration
Oxidation of RuBP by the addition of O 2
Favored when stoma are closed in hot conditions
Creates low-CO2 and high-O2

CO2 and O2 compete for the active site on

RuBP
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C4 plants
Corn, sugarcane, sorghum, and a number of
other grasses
Initially fix carbon in mesophyll cells
transported to bundle-sheath cells
Carbon fixation then by rubisco and the Calvin
cycle

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CAM plants
Many succulent (water-storing) plants, such
as cacti, pineapples, and some members of
about two dozen other plant groups
Stomata open during the night and close
during the day
Reverse of that in most plants

Fix CO2 during the night and store in

vacuole
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