What types of organisms can perform the reactions of PHOTOSYNTHESIS?
1. All Plants (Plant Kingdom)
2. Algae (Protist groups: red algae, brown algae, green algae, diatoms, dinoflagellates)
3. Cyanobacteria (Bacteria Kingdom)
Although the reaction looks simple, the process is complex. There are 2 stages:1. Light Dependent Reactions2. Calvin Cycle = Light Independent Reaction
Pigments are held in the thylakoids of a chloroplast:chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and accessory pigments (orange, red, blue)
Summary of Light Dependent Reactions:
1. water is used up and oxygen is produced 2. Photosystem II captures sunlight and absorbs electrons from water splitting to replace electrons from chlorophyll 3. Photosythem I also captures sunlight and carries electrons from proteins 4. Electron is captured by NADP+ along with H+ ions to form higher energy NADPH.
Summary of Light Dependent Reactions (cont):
5. ATP is produced by H+ ions moving through an enzyme called ATP Synthase
6. Light Dependent Reactions occur in green parts of a plant = leaves (and not in the roots underground)
Also: algae and cyanobacteria contain pigments to absorb sunlight and conduct photosynthesis
Summary of Calvin Cycle = Light Independent Rx:
1. The 2 high energy molecules produced in Light Dependent Rx are used up: ATP and NADPH
2. CO2 is used up 3. One organic sugar, glucose, is
produced for each 6 CO2 used. 4. RuBP is regenerated at the end of
each cycle and ready for the next CO2