Where do they get their food?

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• Plants are called autotrophs because they create their
own food source using energy from light.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Greek word: Greek word for
‘phōs’ meaning putting together
light
• Using light to put things together

• Light energy  chemical energy

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Plants need three things to perform photosynthesis:
Light
Carbon dioxide

Water
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• Stomata  the tiny openings
present on the epidermis of
leaves through which they
take in carbon dioxide
• We breathe oxygen and
exhale carbon dioxide, while
plants breathe carbon dioxide
and exhale oxygen
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• Roots  absorbs
water and other
nutrients to make
food
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• Chloroplasts 
pigments found in
the leaves that
takes in carbon
dioxide, water and
sunlight, and turn
them into sugar
and oxygen
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
• Plants ingest water (H2O) through the roots, carbon
dioxide (CO2) from the air, and light energy from the
sun to perform photosynthesis, and produce glucose
(sugars) and oxygen (O2).
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Within the chloroplasts of a plant cell, photosynthesis
occurs in two main phases:

1. Light – dependent Reaction

2. Light – independent Reaction/Calvin
Cycle
 Light – dependent Reaction
• Light energy  chemical energy

• Key Products:
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (NADPH)
Light – dependent Reaction
Light – dependent Reaction

Plant cells
Light – dependent Reaction

Thylakoid

Chloroplast
Light – dependent Reaction

Thylakoid Membrane
 Light – dependent Reaction
Photosystems
• are large complexes of proteins and pigments whose
roles are to harvest light
• play a key role in the light reactions.
• In most photosynthetic organisms, thylakoids contain
pairs of photosystems:
1. Photosystem I
2. Photosystem II
Photosystem I (PSI)
• located in the outer surface of the thylakoid
membrane
• Active center is P700
• Main function: NADPH synthesis
• Photolysis of water does not occur
• Consist of a network of accessory pigment
molecules and chlorophylthe molecules that
absorb the photons of light
Photosystem II (PSII)
• located in the inner surface of the
thylakoid membrane
• Active center is P680
• Main function: ATP synthesis and
hydrolysis of water
• Photolysis of water occur
Light – dependent Reaction
1. Within the pigment molecules, the
absorbed light energy excites the electrons
to a higher state.
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Light – dependent Reaction
2. Photosystems will channel the excitation
energy gathered by the pigment molecules to a
reaction center, chlorophyll molecule which will
then pass the electrons to a series of proteins the
electron transport chain.
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Light – dependent Reaction
3. The electrons lost by the Photosystem 1
will be replaced by a process called
Photolysis.
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Light – dependent Reaction
4. As the electrons are being transported by
the electron transport chain, the energy
from it is used to pump hydrogen ions from
the stroma into the thylakoid
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Light – dependent Reaction
5. This results to high concentration of
hydrogen ions
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Light – dependent Reaction
6. Hydrogen ions are trapped inside the thylakoid but a
special enzyme called the ATP synthase allows
hydrogen ions to passively diffuse from a high
concentration to low concentration. The flow of
hydrogen ions causes the ATP synthase to spin and
produce ATP.
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Light – dependent Reaction
7. The electron transport chain transports
the low energized electron to the
photosystem 1 where light excites them
once again.

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Light – dependent Reaction
8. Reenergized electrons are transported by
the electron transport chain and are used to
reduce the electron carrier molecule called
NADP⁺ to NADPH
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