INTRODUCTION

Photosynthesis isa physico-chemical process used by plants and other organisms

to convert light energy into chemical energy ,through cellular respiration, can
later be released to fuel the organism's activities. During photosynthesis in green
plants, light energy is captured and used to convert water, carbon dioxide, and
minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. Some of this
chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars and
starches ,which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence
the name photosynthesis, from the Greek words phōs means "light", and
synthesis means "putting together".This means “Combining together with
the help of light”. In most cases, oxygen is also released as a waste
product that stores three times more chemical energy than the
carbohydrates.

Most plants, algae,and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such

organisms are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesisis largely
responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content ofthe
Earth's atmosphere, and supplies most of the energy necessary for life on
Earth. It is an anabolic and redox process.

The first photosynthetic organisms probably evolved early in the

evolutionary history of life and most likely used reducing agents such as
hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide, rather than water, as sources of electrons.
Cyanobacteria appeared later; the excess oxygen they produced
contributed directly to the oxygenation of the Earth, which rendered the
evolution of complex life possible. Today, the average rate of energy
capture by photosynthesis globally is approximately 130 terawatts, which
is about eight times the current power consumption of human civilization.
Photosynthetic organisms also convert around 100–115 billion tons (91 -
104 petagrams) of carbon into biomass per year. The phenomenon that
plants receive some energy from light – in addition to air, soil, and water –
was first discovered in 1779 by Jan Ingenhousz. Photosynthesis is vital for
climate processes, as it captures carbon dioxide from the air and then
binds carbon in plants and further in soils and harvested products

Photosynthetic organisms are photoautotrophs, which means that they

are able to synthesize food directly from carbon dioxide and water using
energy from light. However, not all organisms use carbon dioxide as a
source of carbon atoms to carry out photosynthesis; photoheterotrophs
use organic compounds, rather than carbon dioxide, as a source of
carbon. In plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, photosynthesis releases
oxygen.
Although photosynthesis is performed differently by different species, the
process always begins when energy from light is absorbed by proteins
called reaction centers (RC) that contain green chlorophyll (and other
colored) pigments/chromophores. In plants, these proteins are held inside
organelles called chloroplasts, which are most abundant in leaf cells,
while in bacteria they are embedded in the plasma membrane. In these
light-dependent reactions, some energy is used to strip electrons from
suitable substances, such as water, producing oxygen gas. The hydrogen
freed by the splitting of water is used in the creation of two further
compounds that serve as short-term stores of energy, enabling its transfer
to drive other reactions: these compounds are reduced nicotinamide
adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and adenosine triphosphate
(ATP), the "energy currency" of cells.

In plants, algae and cyanobacteria, long-term energy storage in the form

of sugars is produced by a subsequent sequence of light-independent
reactions called the Calvin cycle. In the Calvin cycle, atmospheric carbon
dioxide is incorporated into already existing organic carbon compounds,
such as ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP). Using the ATP and NADPH
produced by the light-dependent reactions, the resulting compounds are
then reduced and removed to form further carbohydrates, such as glucose.
In other bacteria, different mechanisms such as the reverse Krebs cycle
are used to achieve the same end.

In chemical terms, photosynthesis is a light-energized oxidation–reduction

process. (Oxidation refers to the removal of electrons from a
molecule; reduction refers to the gain of electrons by a molecule.) In plant
photosynthesis, the energy of light is used to drive the oxidation of water
(H2O), producing oxygen gas (O2), hydrogen ions (H+), and electrons. Most
of the removed electrons and hydrogen ions ultimately are transferred to
carbon dioxide (CO2), which is reduced to organic products. Other
electrons and hydrogen ions are used to reduce nitrate and sulfate to
amino and sulfhydryl groups in amino acids, which are the building blocks
of proteins. In most green cells, carbohydrates—especially starch and
the sugar sucrose—are the major direct organic products of
photosynthesis. The overall reaction in which carbohydrates—represented
by the general formula (CH2O)—are formed during plant photosynthesis
can be indicated by the following equation:

These reactions occur in two stages: the “light” stage, consisting

of photochemical (i.e., light-capturing) reactions; and the “dark”
stage, comprising chemical reactions controlled by enzymes. During the
first stage, the energy of light is absorbed and used to drive a series
of electron transfers, resulting in the synthesis of ATP and the electron-
donor-reduced nicotine adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). During
the dark stage, the ATP and NADPH formed in the light-capturing reactions
are used to reduce carbon dioxide to organic carbon compounds. This
assimilation of inorganic carbon into organic compounds is called carbon
fixation.

During the 20th century, comparisons between photosynthetic processes

in green plants and in certain photosynthetic sulfur bacteria provided
important information about the photosynthetic mechanism. Sulfur
bacteria use hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as a source of hydrogen atoms and

produce sulfur instead of oxygen during photosynthesis. The overall

reaction is
In the 1930s Dutch biologist Cornelis van Niel recognized that the
utilization of carbon dioxide to form organic compounds was similar in the
two types of photosynthetic organisms. Suggesting that differences
existed in the light-dependent stage and in the nature of the compounds
used as a source of hydrogen atoms, he proposed that hydrogen was
transferred from hydrogen sulfide (in bacteria) or water (in green plants) to

an unknown acceptor (called A), which was reduced to H2A. During the
dark reactions, which are similar in both bacteria and green plants, the
reduced acceptor (H2A) reacted with carbon dioxide (CO2) to
form carbohydrate (CH2O) and to oxidize the unknown acceptor to A. Thisn
reaction can be represented as:

HISTORY OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS

The study of photosynthesis began in 1771 with observations made by the

English clergyman and scientist Joseph Priestley. Priestley had burned a
candle in a closed container until the air within the container could no
longer support combustion. He then placed a sprig of mint plant in the
container and discovered that after several days the mint had produced
some substance (later recognized as oxygen) that enabled the confined air
to again support combustion. In 1779 the Dutch physician Jan
Ingenhousz expanded upon Priestley’s work, showing that the plant had to
be exposed to light if the combustible substance (i.e., oxygen) was to be
restored. He also demonstrated that this process required the presence of
the green tissues of the plant.

In 1782 it was demonstrated that the combustion-supporting gas (oxygen)

was formed at the expense of another gas, or “fixed air,” which had been
identified the year before as carbon dioxide. Gas-exchange experiments in
1804 showed that the gain in weight of a plant grown in a carefully
weighed pot resulted from the uptake of carbon, which came entirely from
absorbed carbon dioxide, and water taken up by plant roots; the balance
is oxygen, released back to the atmosphere. Almost half a century passed
before the concept of chemical energy had developed sufficiently to
permit the discovery (in 1845) that light energy from the sun is stored as
chemical energy in products formed during photosynthesis.

Requirements for food, materials, and energy in a world

where human population is rapidly growing have created a need to
increase both the amount of photosynthesis and the efficiency of
converting photosynthetic output into products useful to people. One
response to those needs—the so-called Green Revolution, begun in the
mid-20th century—achieved enormous improvements in agricultural yield
through the use of chemical fertilizers, pest and plant-
disease control, plant breeding, and mechanized tilling, harvesting, and
crop processing. This effort limited severe famines to a few areas of the
world despite rapid population growth, but it did not eliminate
widespread malnutrition. Moreover, beginning in the early 1990s, the rate
at which yields of major crops increased began to decline. This was
especially true for rice in Asia. Rising costs associated with sustaining
high rates of agricultural production, which required ever-increasing
inputs of fertilizers and pesticides and constant development of new plant
varieties, also became problematic for farmers in many countries.

A second agricultural revolution, based on plant genetic engineering, was

forecast to lead to increases in plant productivity and thereby
partially alleviate malnutrition. Since the 1970s, molecular biologists have
possessed the means to alter a plant’s genetic material (deoxyribonucleic
acid, or DNA) with the aim of achieving improvements in disease
and drought resistance, product yield and quality, frost hardiness, and
other desirable properties. However, such traits are inherently complex,
and the process of making changes to crop plants through genetic
engineering has turned out to be more complicated than anticipated. In
the future such genetic engineering may result in improvements in the
process of photosynthesis, but by the first decades of the 21st century, it
had yet to demonstrate that it could dramatically increase crop yields.
Another intriguing area in the study of photosynthesis has been the
discovery that certain animals are able to convert light energy into
chemical energy. The emerald green sea slug (Elysia chlorotica), for
example, acquires genes and chloroplasts from Vaucheria litorea,
an alga it consumes, giving it a limited ability to produce chlorophyll.
When enough chloroplasts are assimilated, the slug may forgo the
ingestion of food. The pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) can harness light
to manufacture the energy-rich compound adenosine triphosphate (ATP);
this ability has been linked to the aphid’s manufacture
of carotenoid pigments.

There are two types of photosynthesis i.e oxygenic photosynthesis and anoxygenic photosynthesis.
Oxygenic photosynthesis is the most common type of photosynthesis used by living organisms.
Although there are some differences between oxygenic photosynthesis in plants, algae, and
cyanobacteria, the overall process is quite similar in these organisms. There are also many varieties
of anoxygenic photosynthesis, used mostly by certain types of bacteria, which consume carbon
dioxide but do not release oxygen.