Photosynthesis

lecture 4 EN 3
Mamta Awasthi
CEEE, NIT Hamirpur
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Understand that ENERGY can be transformed from one form to another.
• Know that energy exist in two forms; free energy - available for doing work or as
heat - a form unavailable for doing work.
• Explain why photosynthesis is so important to energy and material flow for life on
earth.
Autotrophs (Photo and chemo) and Heterotrophs
• Know why plants tend to be green in appearance.
• Raw Material for photosynthesis
• Describe the organization of the chloroplast (Site of Photosynthesis)
• Understand the terms (Thylakoids, Grana, Stroma, Pigments, Chlorophyll a, b,
Carotenoids)
• Reaction Centre, Accessory Pigments
• Understand that photosynthesis is a two fold process composed of the light-
dependent reactions (i.e., light reactions) and the light independent reactions
(i.e. Calvin Cycle or Dark Reactions).
• Photosystem I, Photosystem II
• Photolysis of water
• Electron Transport Chain
• Photophosphorylation
• Cyclic Photophosphorylation
• Non-cyclic photophosphorylation
• Tell where the light reactions and the CO2 fixation reactions occur in the
chloroplast.
Energy can be transformed from one
form to another
FREE ENERGY
(available for work)
vs.
HEAT
(not available for work)
Electromagnetic Spectrum and Visible Light
Gamma Infrared &
rays X-rays UV Microwaves Radio waves

Visible light

Wavelength (nm)
 WHY ARE PLANTS GREEN?
Different wavelengths of visible light are seen by the
human eye as different colors.

Gamma Micro- Radio

X-rays UV Infrared
rays waves waves

Visible light
Wavelength (nm)

Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Visible light is a

combination of many wavelengths that we can see as different colors
(of the rainbow) in the range of 380 - 750 nm. Each wavelength is
associated with a specific photon, or particle of energy. In general,
shorter wavelengths have more energy.
 Why are plants green?

Transmitted light

Light Waves
The light absorbing photosynthetic pigments do not
absorb all wavelengths of light equally. Some light
energy cannot be absorbed (and is reflected
instead) and some is transmitted, or passed through
the chloroplasts.
 THE COLOR OF LIGHT SEEN IS THE COLOR NOT
ABSORBED
• Chloroplasts absorb light energy
and convert it to chemical Not surprisingly, green light is absorbed poorly.
energy

The absorption of different wavelengths,

Reflected
or absorption spectrum, of light by the Light light
photosynthetic pigments can be
demonstrated in the laboratory using
spectrophotometers. The light waves
most absorbed and most useful to
photosynthesis are reds and blues.
One can also measure rates of
photosynthesis in different wavelengths Absorbed
to generate an action spectrum. This is light
Transmitted Chloroplast
done by growing plants in light boxes light

that have just one wavelength of light.

Relevance of Photosynthesis: THE FOOD WEB
• Not all autotrophs are photosynthetic; a tiny
proportion of our organic fuel is manufactured by
chemosynthetic organisms (or chemoautotrophs).
• Chemosynthetic autotrophs use energy from
chemical reactions involving inorganic atoms and
molecules, such as S, Fe, H and N, to make organic
compounds.
• Chemosynthesis is restricted to a very few groups of
bacteria, mostly the Archaea. However,
chemosynthesis sustains some deep sea-bed
ecosystems that surround sulfur vents.
• Organisms that obtain energy and carbon from their
physical surroundings are autotrophs
• The vast majority of autotrophs are photoautotrophs
that manufacture their organic molecules by the
process of photosynthesis.
• Organisms that obtain their organic fuel molecules
pre-formed from the environment are heterotrophs.
Animals, fungi, many protists and many bacteria are
heterotrophs.
• Most photosynthetic organisms are plants or protists
that contain chlorophyll. Many prokaryotes are also
photosynthetic. The Cyanobacteria have chlorophyll
pigments; some Bacteria, such as the purple sulfur
bacteria, have different light-capturing pigments, and
slightly different photosynthetic mechanisms.
 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
 Raw Material for photosynthesis:
Light Energy Harvested by Plants & Other
Photosynthetic Autotrophs

Carbon Water Glucose Oxygen

dioxide gas

• Photosynthesis is the
process by which
autotrophic organisms use
light energy to make sugar
and oxygen gas from
carbon dioxide and water
Light energy is used to split water molecules, forming 2H+, 2e-, and Oxygen during the
process of photosynthesis
Carbon dioxide diffuses from the atmosphere, through pores in leaf surfaces, called
stomata, which are formed by a pair of guard cells. The carbon dioxide then diffuses to
the photosynthetic cells of the leaf mesophyll
The pigments needed for photosynthesis are located in the chloroplasts.
• 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
 Chloroplasts: Sites of Photosynthesis
In most plants, photosynthesis occurs
primarily in the leaves, in the chloroplasts
Occurs in chloroplasts, organelles in
certain plants
All green plant parts have chloroplasts
and carry out photosynthesis
• The leaves have the most chloroplasts
• The green color comes from chlorophyll
in the chloroplasts
• The pigments absorb light energy
Light energy is captured by the pigments
located on the special membranes in the
chloroplast called thylakoids, which are
folded into disk-shaped stacks called
grana. A chloroplast contains:
The interior compartments of thylakoids stroma, a fluid
serve as reservoirs for hydrogen ions (H+) grana, stacks of thylakoids
that are needed for producing ATP. The thylakoids contain chlorophyll
Chlorophyll is the green pigment that
captures light for photosynthesis
 Chloroplast Pigments
• Chloroplasts contain several pigments – Chlorophyll a
– Chlorophyll b
– Carotenoids
In plants, there are two forms of chlorophyll (a, which has a methyl group, and
b, which has an aldehyde group) as well as important accessory pigments, the
carotenes.

Each pigment absorbs certain wavelengths, and collects and concentrates light
energy for the photosynthetic process. In addition the carotenes may function
to protect chlorophyll molecules from being damaged by too intense light. The
red and blue phycocyanin pigments can also absorb light and serve as
accessory pigments in photosynthesis.
Chlorophyll a & b
•Chl a has a methyl
group

•Chl b has a carbonyl

group

Porphyrin ring
delocalized e-

Phytol tail
Different pigments absorb light differently
 Antenna complex
The photosynthetic pigment
molecules do not work alone. They
are arranged on the thylakoids of the
chloroplast in clusters of about 300
pigment molecules in a protein matrix
to form a light-harvesting or antenna
complex that gathers and transfers
energy to a photochemical reaction
center, embedded in a
transmembrane protein complex.
The reaction center has a special The reaction centers of Photosystems I
chlorophyll a molecule along with and II are activated by slightly different
the primary electron acceptor (which wavelengths of light. The reaction center
accepts the electrons released from in Photosystem I absorbs light of 700nm
chlorophyll a). best. The reaction center of Photosystem
There are two such complexes found II absorbs wavelengths of 680nm. Each
in the chloroplasts, called thylakoid has thousands of the two
Photosystem I and Photosystem II. different photosystems. Both are needed
Each has a unique electron acceptor. for photosynthesis.
• A Photosynthesis Road Map

Chloroplast

Light
Stroma

Stack of NADP
thylakoids ADP
+P
Light Calvin
reactions cycle

Sugar used for

 Cellular respiration
 Cellulose
 Starch
 Other organic compounds
 AN OVERVIEW OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• The light reactions
Light
convert solar energy Chloroplast
to chemical energy
– Produce ATP & NADPH NADP
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
 Process of Photosynthesis
• Photosynthesis involves two stages, occurring in
separate locations within chloroplasts.
• In the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis,
light energy is transformed into chemical energy in the
form of energy transfer molecules in a series of redox
reactions that transfer electrons and hydrogen from
water to the energy transfer molecule NADP+.
• The light-dependent reactions are known as
photophosphorylations, because they involve
producing ATP.
• They take place on the thylakoid membranes of the
grana.
 Light-independent reactions
• In the Calvin cycle (sometimes called the
light-independent reactions), the energy from
the light reactions is used to manufacture
carbohydrate molecules, which form glucose.
• These reactions occur in the stroma of the
chloroplast.
• The two "stages" of photosynthesis are linked
by the products of the light dependent
reactions.
• These products are ATP and NADPH.
 The overall chemical equation for
photosynthesis* is:
Chlorophyll
• 6CO2 + 12H2O + energy → C6H12O6 + 6H2O + 6O2
Chlorophyll
(Carbon dioxide + water + light energy → glucose + water
+ oxygen)
• The process of photosynthesis directly produces 12
molecules of the 3-carbon compound, glyceraldehyde-3-
phosphate (G3P).
• Two of these molecules are metabolized to glucose
during a "complete" photosynthesis.
• The remaining 10 molecules of G3P are recycled in the
photosynthetic process.
 Loss of energy due to heat causes
Excitation of chlorophyll in the photons of light to be less
a chloroplast energetic.
Less energy translates into longer
wavelength.
2 Energy = (Planck’s constant) x
(velocity of light)/(wavelength of light)
Transition toward the red end of the
visible spectrum.

Chlorophyll
molecule

(b) fluorescence of isolated chlorophyll in solution

• When pigment molecules absorb energy from light,
electrons in the molecules are excited and moved to a
higher energy orbital in an excited state.
• The energy level of a photon absorbed and the rise in
energy level to the higher energy orbital must match, which
is why only certain wavelengths can be absorbed by certain
pigments.
• This rise in energy is temporary. Electrons fall back to their
ground state if the energy is not transferred elsewhere.
• When the electrons fall back to their ground state energy is
given off as heat, or sometimes as light (fluorescence).
Chlorophyll a does both,
• fluorescing as red light.
 Electron Transport System Molecules
(Energy Transfer Molecules)
• many chemical reactions of metabolism are coupled
oxidation-reductions that utilize a chain of electron
transport molecules.
• These electron carriers specialize in oxidizing and reducing
at specific energy levels to minimize energy loss in energy
transfers. Both photosynthesis and cellular respiration rely
on such molecules. In the process of photosynthesis, the
electron transport carriers are embedded in the thylakoid
membranes.
• Some of the molecules which specialize in these energy
transfers in the thylakoids are:
• NADP+, plastoquinone, two cytochromes, plastocyanin and
• ferredoxin
• Two types of
photosystems
cooperate in the light
reactions
ATP
mill

Water-splitting NADPH-producing
photosystem photosystem
 How the Light Reactions Generate ATP and NADPH
Primary NADP
electron
acceptor
Energy
Primary to make 3
electron
acceptor 2

Light

Light

Primary
electron
acceptor

Reaction-
1 center NADPH-producing
chlorophyll photosystem

Water-splitting
photosystem
2 H + 1/2
 Plants produce O2 gas by splitting H2O

• The O2 liberated by photosynthesis is made from

the oxygen in water (H+ and e-)
 Photosynthesis & Electron Transport

Cyclic Photophosphorylation

• PS I
Generates H+ gradient (used for ATP synthesis) only.

Non-cyclicPhotophosphorylation
• Both PS I and PS II
• Generates H+ gradient (used for ATP synthesis) and
NADPH.
 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
Cyclic Photophosphorylation
• Process for ATP generation associated with some
Photosynthetic Bacteria
• Reaction Center => 700 nm
Noncyclic Photophosphorylation
• Photosystem II regains electrons by splitting water,
leaving O2 gas as a by-product
Primary
electron acceptor

Primary
electron acceptor

Photons

Energy for
synthesis of

PHOTOSYSTEM I

PHOTOSYSTEM II by chemiosmosis
 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
 • 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

 Review: Photosynthesis uses light energy to
make food molecules

• A summary of
Chloroplast
the chemical Light

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

Cellular
respiration
Cellulose
Starch
Other organic
LIGHT REACTIONS CALVIN CYCLE compounds
It's not that easy
bein' green… but
it is essential for
life on earth!