8 Photosynthesis:

Energy from the Sun

8 Photosynthesis: Energy from the Sun

This chapter in the book tends focus on plants that are

extant on our planet today.
But remember the ancient Earth did not have such
plants, and it had very little oxygen, in fact oxygen
was thought to be toxic to the primitive life forms on
the planet.
It was primitive, proto-prokaryotes (that may have
become the present day cyanobacteria) that worked
for millions of years to change the Earth’s
environment. The first of the primitive, proto-
eukaryotes probably resembled algae and plankton.
8 Identifying Photosynthetic
Reactants and Products

• It was these ancient organisms that changed the

Earth and made it livable for you and me and all
of the life that we have around us now.
• These ancient organisms could photosynthesize
and make oxygen as well as take the carbon from
the CO2 in the atmosphere and make the
carbohydrates that we consume to make food and
keep us alive.
• Photosynthesis, the biochemical process by which
plants capture energy from sunlight and store it in
carbohydrates, is the very basis of life on Earth.
8 Identifying Photosynthetic
Reactants and Products

• By the 1800s, scientists had learned:

 Three ingredients are needed for
photosynthesis: water, CO2, and light.

 There are two products: carbohydrates and O2.

 (below is the books focus on plants in this

chapter)
 The water, which comes primarily from the soil,
is transported through the roots to the leaves.
 The CO2 is taken in from the air through
stomata, or pores, in the leaves.
Figure 8.1 The Ingredients for Photosynthesis
8 Identifying Photosynthetic
Reactants and Products

• By 1804, scientists had summarized the overall

chemical reaction of photosynthesis:
• CO2 + H2O + light energy  sugar + O2

• More recently, using H2O and CO2 labeled with

radioactive isotopes, it has been determined that
the actual reaction is:
• 6 CO2 + 12 H2O  C6H12O6 + 6 O2 + 6 H2O
8 The Two Pathways of Photosynthesis:
An Overview

• Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts of green

plant cells and consists of many reactions.
• Photosynthesis can be divided into two pathways:
 The light reaction is driven by light energy
captured by chlorophyll. It produces ATP and
NADPH + H+. And it produces oxygen.
 The Calvin–Benson cycle does not use light
directly. It uses ATP, NADPH + H+, and CO2 to
produce sugars.
Figure 8.3 An Overview of Photosynthesis (Part 2)
Figure 8.3 An Overview of Photosynthesis (Part 1)

The light reactions make 

chemicals that fuel the 
Calvin-Benson Cycle. 
Figure 8.5 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
8 The Interactions of Light and Pigments

• When a photon and a pigment molecule meet,

one of three things happens: The photon may
bounce off, pass through,or be absorbed by the
molecule.
• If absorbed, the energy of the photon is acquired
by the molecule.
• The molecule is raised from its ground state to an
excited state of higher energy.
Figure 8.4 Exciting a Molecule
8 The Interactions of Light and Pigments

• Molecules that absorb wavelengths in the visible

range are called pigments.
• When a beam of white light shines on an object,
and the object appears to be red in color, it is
because it has absorbed all other colors from the
white light except for the color red.
• In the case of chlorophyll, plants look green
because they absorb green light less effectively
than the other colors found in sunlight.
8 The Interactions of Light and Pigments

• Plants have two predominant chlorophylls:

chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b.
• These chlorophylls absorb blue and red
wavelengths, which are near the ends of the
visible spectrum.
• Other accessory pigments absorb photons
between the red and blue wavelengths and then
transfer a portion of that energy to chlorophylls.
• Examples of accessory pigments are the
carotenoids, such as -carotene.
Figure 8.7 The Molecular Structure of Chlorophyll

Note that the cholorphyll molecules are embedded

in a biological membrane <- you know about this.
8 The Interactions of Light and Pigments

• Pigments in photosynthetic organisms are

arranged into antenna systems.
• In these systems, pigments are packed together
and attached to thylakoid membrane proteins to
enable the transfer of energy.
• The excitation energy is passed to the reaction
center of the antenna complex.
• In plants, the pigment molecule in the center is
always a molecule of chlorophyll a.
Figure 8.8 Energy Transfer and Electron Transport
8 The Interactions of Light and Pigments

• Excited chlorophyll (Chl*) in the reaction center

acts as a reducing agent.
• The electrons of an excited molecule are less
tightly held by the nucleus, and more likely to be
passed on in a redox reaction to an oxidizing
agent.
• Chl* can react with an oxidizing agent in a
reaction such as:
 Chl* + A  Chl+ + A–.
• Chlorophyll becomes a reducing agent and
participates in a redox reaction.
8 The Light Reactions: Electron Transport,
Reductions, and Photophosphorylation

• The energized electron that leaves the Chl* in the

reaction center immediately participates in a
series of redox reactions.
• The electron flows through a series of carriers in
the thylakoid membrane, a process termed
electron transport.
• Two energy rich products of the light reactions,
NADPH + H+ and ATP, are the result.
• Chemiosmotic synthesis of ATP in the thylakoid
membrane is called photophosphorylation.
Figure 8. 9 Noncyclic Electron Transport Uses Two Photosystems (Part 1)
Figure 8. 9 Noncyclic Electron Transport Uses Two Photosystems (Part 2)

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate

becomes reduced.
Figure 8.10 Cyclic Electron Transport Traps Light Energy as ATP
Figure 8.3 An Overview of Photosynthesis (Part 1)

The light reactions make 

chemicals that fuel the 
Calvin-Benson Cycle. 
8 Making Carbohydrate from CO2:
The Calvin–Benson Cycle

• The reactions of the Calvin-Benson cycle take place

in the stroma of the chloroplasts.
• This cycle does not use sunlight directly; but it
requires the ATP and NADPH + H+ produced in the
light reactions, and these can not be “stockpiled” for
long.
• Thus the Calvin-Benson reactions require light
indirectly.
8 Making Carbohydrate from CO2:
The Calvin–Benson Cycle

• The initial reaction of the Calvin–Benson cycle

fixes one CO2 into a 5-carbon compound, ribulose
1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP).
• An intermediate 6-carbon compound forms, which
is unstable and breaks down to form two 3-carbon
molecules of 3PG.
• The enzyme that catalyzes the fixation of CO2 is
ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase,
called rubisco.
• Rubisco is the most abundant protein in the world.
Figure 8.14 RuBP Is the Carbon Dioxide Acceptor
8 Making Carbohydrate from CO2:
The Calvin–Benson Cycle

• The Calvin–Benson cycle consists of three

processes:
 Fixation of CO2, by combination with RuBP
(catalyzed by rubisco)
 Conversion of fixed CO2 into carbohydrate
(G3P) (this step uses ATP and NADPH)
 Regeneration of the CO2 acceptor RuBP by ATP
8 Making Carbohydrate from CO2:
The Calvin–Benson Cycle

• The end product of the cycle is glyceraldehyde 3-

phosphate, G3P.
• There are two fates for the G3P:
 One-third ends up as starch, which is stored in
the chloroplast and serves as a source of
glucose.
 Two-thirds is converted to the disaccharide
sucrose, which is transported to other organs.
Figure 8.13 The Calvin-Benson Cycle
Figure 8.3 An Overview of Photosynthesis (Part 1)

The light reactions make 

chemicals that fuel the 
Calvin-Benson Cycle. 
8 Making Carbohydrate from CO2:
The Calvin–Benson Cycle

• It is estimated that 10 billion tons of carbon is fixed

into carbohydrates each year.

Human are thought to consume 1/3 of all the fixed

carbon, leaving 2/3 for the rest of the planet.
8 Metabolic Pathways in Plants

• Green plants are autotrophs and can synthesize

all their molecules from three simple starting
materials: CO2, H2O, and NH4.

• To satisfy their need for ATP, plants, like all other

organisms, carry out cellular respiration.
• Both aerobic respiration and fermentation can
occur in plants, although respiration is more
common.
• Cellular respiration takes place both in the dark
and in the light.
Figure 8.18 Metabolic Interactions in a Plant Cell (Part 1)
Figure 8.18 Metabolic Interactions in a Plant Cell (Part 2)
8 Making Carbohydrate from CO2:
The Calvin–Benson Cycle

• While the focus of this lecture has been on

photosynthesis, things that photosynthesize, like
plants, are also breaking down carbohydrates to
make ATP and CO2.
• Animals can only do the later they can take
carbohydrates and break them down to make ATP
and CO2. Animals ultimately get their
carbohydrates from things that photosynthesize.