**Addition to CELL (Presence of organelles in eukaryotes and prokaryotes)

Eukaryotic Prokaryotic
Cell Structure (Bacteria&Archaea)
Animal Plant
Pilus /
Flagellum /
Capsule /
Cell wall / /
Plasma membrane / / /
Cytoplasm / / /
Nucleoid /
Nucleus / /
Nucleolus / /
Nuclear membrane / /
Ribosomes / / /
Golgi body / /
Endoplasmic reticulum / /
Vesicles / /
Vacuole / /
Mitochondria / /
Centrosome / /
Choloroplast /
Amyloplast /
Peptidoglycan /

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
- process that converts solar energy into chemical energy.
a. Light-dependent reaction (light reaction)
b. Light-independent reaction (Calvin-Benson
cycle/Dark reaction)
Autotrophs are the producers in food chain that have the
ability to make their own food.
Like land plants, phytoplanktons have chlorophyll to
capture sunlight, and they use photosynthesis to turn it
into chemical energy. They consume carbon dioxide, and
release oxygen.
Green plants are green because they contain chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll absorbs certain wavelengths of light within the
visible light spectrum. Green light is not absorbed but
reflected, making the plant appear green.
Leaves are the food-producing organs in plants because
their function is to absorb sunlight that powers
photosynthesis. They tend to be broad and flat, in order to
maximize the surface area exposed to sunlight.
Plastids are plant organelles involved in either the
manufacture or storage of food. They contain chloroplasts
and they trap solar energy to manufacture food. Chloroplasts are the sites of photosynthesis.
LIGHT-DEPENDENT REACTIONS – happen in the thylakoid membrane of chloroplasts.
ATP and oxygen gas are produced in this pathway. Electrons that travel through two different electron
transfer chains end up in NADPH, which delivers them to sugar-building reactions in the stroma.

STEPS:
1. A photosystem absorbs light energy and releases electrons.
2. The photosystem pulls replacement electrons from water molecules, which then break apart into oxygen
atoms and hydrogen ions. The oxygen atoms leave the cell as O2 gas (photolysis).
3. The electrons enter an electron transfer chain in the thylakoid membrane.
4. Energy lost by the electrons as they move through the chain is used to actively transport hydrogen ions
from the stroma into the thylakoid compartment. A hydrogen ion gradient forms across the thylakoid
membrane.
5. Another photosystem absorbs light energy and releases electrons. Replacement electrons come from the
first electron transfer chain.
6. The released electrons move through a second electron transfer chain, then combine with NADP+ and
H+, so NADPH forms.
7. Hydrogen ions in the thylakoid compartment follow their gradient across the thylakoid membrane by
flowing through the interior of ATP synthases.
8. Hydrogen ion flow causes ATP synthases to phosphorylate ADP, so ATP forms in the stroma.

LIGHT-INDEPENDENT REACTIONS (CALVIN-BENSON

CYCLE) – The energy that drives this second stage of
photosynthesis is provided not by light; rather, the
reactions run on the energy of electrons delivered by
NADPH and phosphate group transfers from ATP. A cyclic
carbon-fixing pathway that forms sugars from CO. Six
cycles of these reactions produce one six-carbon sugar.
The enzyme rubisco fixes carbon by attaching CO2 to a
five-carbon compound called RuBP (ribulose
biphosphate). The six-carbon intermediate that forms by
this reaction is unstable, so it splits right away into three-
carbon molecules of PGA (phosphoglyceric acid). NADPH
and ATP are used to convert these molecules to sugars.
It takes six cycles of Calvin-Benson reactions to fix the six
carbon atoms necessary to make one molecule of glucose.
Carbon fixation – extracting carbon atoms from an inorganic source (such as CO2) and incorporating them
into an organic molecule.

Phtosynthesis equation:
6CO2 + 6H2O  C6H12O6 + 6O2
ALTERNATIVE CARBON-FIXING PATHWAYS
The aboveground parts of most plants are covered with a cuticle that limits evaporative water loss. Gases
cannot diffuse across the cuticle, but oxygen produced by the light-dependent reactions must escape the
plant, and carbon dioxide needed for the dark reaction must enter it. Thus, most leaves and stems are
studded with tiny, closable gaps called stomata (singular, stoma). Stomata close to conserve water on hot,
dry days. When that happens, gas exchange comes to a halt.

CAM Plant (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) – type of plant that fixes carbon twice. Stomata close during
night time to prevent the oxygen to be released in the outside environment and opens its stomata for gas
exchange during day time. (ex. cactus, pineapple, orchids, wax plant)
C3 Plant – type of plant that uses ONLY the Calvin-Benson cycle to fix carbon. (ex. spinach, peanuts, cotton,
wheat rice, barley)
C4 Plant - type of plant that fixes carbon twice, in two cell types. (ex. corn, sugarcane, millet, sorghum)

- end of 1st semester-

“THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED”

soon