Photosynthesis 1

In order for plants to grow they need inputs of carbon dioxide, water
and energy. The chemical process by which plants use these
resources to manufacture glucose -the building blocks of plants is
called photosynthesis.

In the process, oxygen gas is produced as a by-product. The energy

for photosynthesis originates in the sun and arrives at the earth as
sunlight. This light has both a wave and a particle nature.

The particles of photons are the smallest unit of light. Photons

isolates along a path which is measured as wavelengths. The light
emitted from the sun contains photons in a wide spectrum of
wavelengths called the electromagnetic spectrum. Photosynthetic
organisms use only a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
called visible light. Photosynthetic organisms contain pigments that
facilitate the capture of wavelengths of light in the visible light range.

The color of the pigment comes from the wavelengths of light

reflected. Plants appear green because they reflect yellow and green
wavelengths of light. Red and blue wavelengths of light are absorbed
by these pigments and provide the energy that is used for
photosynthesis.

Within photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms also known as

photoautotrophs, the chemical reactions of photosynthesis occurs
within plant cells in specialized structures known as chloroplast.
Photosynthesis consists of two sets of reactions: the light dependent
reactions and the Calvin cycle. Within a chloroplast are small disc-like
structures called thylakoids which are surrounded by a fluid-filled
space called the stroma.

The reactions that synthesize glucose - the Calvin cycle occur in the
stroma. The light-dependent reactions occur in the thylakoid. It is
here that the conversion of energy to chemical energy is initiated. In
most photosynthetic organisms, thylakoids contain pairs of
photosystems called photosystem 1 and photosystem 2 that work
in tandem to produce the energy that will later be used in the stroma
to manufacture sugars. The photosystems of the thylakoid consist of
the network of accessory pigment molecules and chlorophyll. The
molecules that absorb the photons of light.

Within the pigment molecules the absorbed light energy excites

electrons to a higher state. Photosystems will channel the excitation
energy gathered by the pigment molecules to a reaction center
chlorophyll molecule which will then passed the electrons to a series of
proteins located on the thylakoid membrane. photons of light strike
photosystems I and II simultaneously. We will examine what happens
with the photon striking photosystem II first. The energized electrons
are passed from the reaction center of photosystem II to an electron
transport chain. The electrons lost by photosystem II are replaced by
a process called photolysis which involves the oxidation of a water
molecule producing free electrons and oxygen gas.

From this oxygen gas is a byproduct of photosynthesis it is an

important input to the cellular respiration pathways. As electrons pass
through the electron transport chain the energy from the electron is
used to pump hydrogen ions from the stroma to the thylakoid creating
a concentration gradient. This gradient powers a protein called ATP
synthase which fast for elates ADP to form ATP the low energy
electrons leaving photosystem II are shuttled to photosystem I.

Within photosystem I, low energy electrons are re-energized and are

passed through an electron transport chain with a are used to reduce
the electron carrier NADP+ to NADPH. On a chloroplast is receiving a
steady supply of photons, NADPH and ATP molecules are rapidly being
provided to the metabolic pathways in the stroma. Therefore the ATP
and NADPH form during the light-dependent reactions are used in the
stroma to fuel the Calvin cycle reactions.

The Calvin cycle consists of a series of reactions that reduce carbon

dioxide to produce the carbohydrate glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. The
cycle consists of three steps: the first of which is called carbon
fixation. In this step, carbon dioxide is attached to ribulose 15-
bisphosphate resulting in a six-carbon molecule that splits into two 3-
carbon molecules.

The second step is a sequence of reactions using electrons from

NADPH and some of the ATP to reduce carbon dioxide. In the final step,
ribulose 15-bisphosphate is regenerated. For every three turns of the
cycle five molecules of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate are used to reform
three molecules of ribulose 15-bisphosphate.

The remaining glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate is then used to make

glucose, fatty acids or glycerol. It takes two molecules of
glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate to make one molecule of glucose
phosphate, thus the Calvin cycle has to run 6 times to produce one
molecule of glucose. The molecules can remove their phosphate and
add fructose to form sucrose. The molecule plants used to transport
carbohydrates throughout their system.

Glucose-phosphate is also the starting molecule for the synthesis of

starch and cellulose. Plants produce sugars to use as storage
molecules and structural components for their own benefit. By utilizing
the energy of the sun along with inputs of water and carbon dioxide,
plants act as glucose factories.

Photosynthetic organisms are the primary producers of glucose on

the planet. They also produce oxygen gas as a byproduct and thus
serves as the foundation of life providing food and oxygen for the
complex food webs on both land and in the oceans.