Foundation in Science

Biology 2 FS2014
Topic 2
Part 1: Photosynthesis

Prepared by: Chuah Yaw Kuang

Email: YawKuangChuah@imu.edu.my
Ext: 1370 l Faculty Cluster 1
 Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lecture, student should be able to:

• describe the concept of autotroph and heterotroph
• describe the relationship between an action spectrum and an absorption spectrum

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 Table of Contents

1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph

1.2 Chloroplast
1.3 Action spectrum
1.4 Overview of photosynthesis

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 1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph
• Photosynthesis is the process that converts solar energy into chemical energy (stored in
glucose or other organic compound)
• Use light energy to make sugar and oxygen gas from carbon dioxide and water

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 1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph
• Autotrophs - producing their own food and sustaining themselves without eating other
organisms, producers of the biosphere
• Photoautotroph - organism that can perform photosynthesis - Use energy from sun light to
produce organic molecules from inorganic substance

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 1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph

Multicellular alga Unicellular protists

Cyanobacteria Mosses & ferns

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 1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph
• Chemoautotroph – can perform chemosynthesis
▫ Does not use sunlight - use chemical energy stored within certain chemicals for synthesis
▫ Use methane, hydrogen gas, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur, iron as source of energy by
oxidizing them
▫ Iron bacteria (Ex: Leptothrix), Nitrifying bacteria (Ex: Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter)

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 1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph
• Heterotrophs - obtain organic material from
other organisms - consumers of the biosphere
▫ Cannot synthesize their own food, depends
on organic matter already produced by other
organisms for its nourishment
▫ Divided:
 Holozoic nutrition
 Saprophytic nutrition
 Parasitic nutrition

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 1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph
• Holozoic nutrition
▫ Organism take complex organic food material into body
▫ Involve internalization of digestion and absorption
▫ Herbivores, Omnivores, Carnivores, Detritivores

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 1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph
• Saprophytic nutrition
▫ Feed on dead or decaying material
▫ Digest food externally by releasing enzyme before absorbing the nutrient
▫ Include bacteria and fungi
▫ Also called as decomposers

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 1.1 Autotroph and heterotroph
• Parasitic nutrition
▫ Obtain nutrition directly from
the body of the host
▫ Lives on the body surface or
inside the body of host
▫ Cause harm to the host

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 1.2 Chloroplast
• Leaves (chloroplast) are the major locations of
photosynthesis
• Chlorophyll - green pigment within chloroplasts
- green color of leaf
• Chloroplasts are found mainly in mesophyll
cells
• Each mesophyll cell contains 30–40 chloroplasts

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 1.2 Chloroplast
• The chlorophyll is in the membranes
of thylakoids (connected sacs in the
chloroplast);
• may be stacked in columns called
grana
• Chloroplasts also contain stroma, a
dense interior fluid
• Chloroplasts are solar-powered
chemical factories
• Their thylakoids transform light
energy into the chemical energy of
ATP and NADPH

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 1.3 Action spectrum
• Leaves appear green because photosynthetic
pigment reflects and transmits green light
• Photosynthetic pigments - absorb visible light
• Different pigments absorb different
wavelengths
• Wavelengths that are not absorbed are
reflected or transmitted

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 1.3 Action spectrum
• A spectrophotometer measures the
ability of a pigment to absorb various
wavelengths
• Produce absorption spectrum –
determine wavelength absorbed by each
type of pigments

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 1.3 Action spectrum
• Chlorophyll a - main photosynthetic
pigment
▫ Absorb violet-blue and red light (400-
450nm & 650-700nm)
▫ Reflects green, yellow, orange
▫ work best for photosynthesis
• Chlorophyll b - accessory pigment
▫ Absorb other blues and orange-reds
light (450-500nm & 600-650nm)
▫ broadens the spectrum used for
photosynthesis and provides
protection

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 1.3 Action spectrum
• Chlorophyll pigment made up of a complex
ring called porphyrin ring that absorb &
transduce light energy into chemical energy
• Attached to a long hydrocarbon chain
• Embeds itself in the membranes of the
chloroplast
• Porphyrin ring is hydrophilic - remains on the
surface of the thylakoid membrane

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 1.3 Action spectrum
• Carotenoids - accessory pigment (Group
of yellow, brown ,orange and reddish
pigments)
▫ Absorb violet and blue-green light (460
- 550 nm)
▫ absorb excessive light that would
damage chlorophyll
▫ Two types of carotenoids:
▫ a) carotenes - β-carotene & lycopene
▫ b) xanthophyll - zeaxanthin

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 1.3 Action spectrum
• Absorption spectrum - graph plotting a
pigment’s light absorption versus wavelength
• Action spectrum - profiles the relative
effectiveness of different wavelengths of
radiation in driving a photosynthesis process
• The action spectrum demonstrate that the
rate of photosynthesis is highest in the
present of violet-blue and red light
• By referring to the absorption spectrum of
chlorophyll a:
▫ violet-blue and red light work best for
photosynthesis
▫ chlorophyll a is the major photosynthetic
pigment

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 1.4 Overview of photosynthesis
• Photosynthesis is a redox (oxidation-reduction) process.
▫ CO2 becomes reduced to sugar as electrons along with hydrogen ions from water are
added to it.
▫ Water molecules are oxidized when they lose electrons along with hydrogen ions.
• Light energy is captured by chlorophyll molecules to boost the energy of electrons
• Light energy is converted to chemical energy, and chemical energy is stored in the
chemical bonds of sugars.

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 1.4 Overview of photosynthesis
• Photosynthesis occurs in two metabolic stages.
1. The light reactions occur in the thylakoid
membranes
 –converting light energy to chemical energy
through electron movement
2. The Calvin cycle (dark reactions or light-
independent reactions) occurs in the stroma
of the chloroplast
 – carbon fixation from carbon dioxide

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1.4 Overview of photosynthesis

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