Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is a process in which green

plants use energy from the sun to transform
water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into
oxygen and organic compounds. It is one
example of how people and plants are
dependent on each other in sustaining life.

Photosynthesis happens when water is

absorbed by the roots of green plants and is
carried to the leaves by the xylem, and
carbon dioxide is obtained from air that
enters the leaves through the stomata and diffuses to the cells containing chlorophyll. The
green pigment chlorophyll is uniquely capable of converting the active energy of light
into a latent form that can be stored (in food) and used when needed.

Photosynthesis provides us with most of the oxygen we need in order to breathe. We, in
turn, exhale the carbon dioxide needed by plants. Plants are also crucial to human life
because we rely on them as a source of food for ourselves and for the animals that we eat.
Light Reaction

Plants have to break the bonds of two stable compounds, CO2 and H2O, rearrange
electrons, and produce two compounds which are less stable relative to the first two,
ATP

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) : A common

form in which energy produced in the light
reaction of photosynthesis stored in living
systems; consists of a nucleotide (with ribose
sugar) with three phosphate groups.

and NADPH

Nicotine adenine dinucleotide phosphate

(NADP+): A substance to which electrons are
transferred from photosystem I during
photosynthesis; the addition of the electrons
reduces NADP, which acquires a hydrogen ion to
form NADPH, which is a storage form of energy
that can be transferred to the Calvin Cycle for the
production of carbohydrate.

. It would not be profitable for the plants to do this using their own energy. Instead
plants use an energy source that is readily available to them- light.

In the light dependent processes (light reactions

Light reaction : The photosynthetic process in

which solar energy is harvested and transferred
into the chemical bonds of ATP; can occur only in
light.

) light strikes chlorophyll in such a way as to excite electrons to a higher energy

state. In a series of reactions, called a redox reaction, the energy is converted (by an
electron transport process) into ATP and NADPH, or the energy components of plants.
Water is split in

Electron transport : C oupled series of

oxidation/reduction reactions during which ATP is
generated by energy transfer as electrons move
from high reducing state to lower reducing state.

the process, releasing oxygen as a by-product of the reaction. The ATP and NADPH
are

Dark reaction : The photosynthetic process in

which food (sugar/carbohydrate) molecules are
formed from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
with the use of ATP and NADPH; can occur in the
dark as long as energy source is present.

then used to make C-C bonds in the Light Independent Process (Dark Reactions).

The total process of the "light reactions" are the net result of two net reactions and
result in the formation of ATP and NADPH, or plant energy components. One reaction
involves the splitting of water. This process is an oxidative reaction that requires
light, and may be written as:

12 H2O -----------------------> 6 O2 + 24 H+ + 24e-

light or radiant energy

The oxidation

Oxidation reaction : The combination of a

substance with oxygen; a reaction in which the
atoms in an element lose electrons and the
valence of the element is correspondingly
increased. In photosynthesis this means that
electrons are removed from oxygen by light
energy in order to reconstitute them by way of a
reduction reaction to produce ATP and NADPH.

of water is accompanied by a reduction reaction

Reduction reaction : A decrease in positive

valence or an increase in negative valence by the
gaining of electrons.

resulting in the formation of a compound, called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

phosphate (NADPH). The total reaction is written here:

NADP+ + H20 ------------> NADPH + H+ + O

(oxidized form) (reduced form) (oxygen)

The second reaction involved in the light reactions is yet another reaction resulting in
the formation of a highly energetic compound, called adenosine triphosphate, (ATP).
As this reaction involves the addition of a phosphate group (labeled, as Pi) to a
compound called, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) during the light reaction, it is called
photophosphorylation:

ADP + Pi ------------> ATP

Think of the light reaction, as a process by which organisms "capture and store"
radiant energy as they produce oxygen gas. This energy is stored in the form of
chemical bonds of the compounds NADPH and ATP.
Dark Reaction
In the light independent process (dark reaction), carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere is captured and modified by the addition of hydrogen to
form carbohydrates. Why is supplemental
Carbohydrate : Any of a group of organic
compounds that includes sugars, starches,
celluloses, and gums and serves as a major
energy source in the diet of plants and animals.
These compounds are produced by photosynthetic
plants and contain only carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen, usually in the ratio 1:2:1. Glucose is the
major plant carbohydrate and the end product of
photosyntheis.
CO2 not used at night when it is needed in the dark reactions? The
answer is that the dark reaction takes place in the presence of usable (or
already created by light reaction) energy, or available ATP and NADPH. It
happens that the peak in available energy is during photosythetically
active periods, i.e. when the lights are on. So the term "dark reactions"
can be a little misleading. The incorporation of carbon dioxide into
organic compounds is known as the Calvin Cycle (after Melvin Calvin for
which he won a 1961 Nobel Prize in chemistry), or carbon fixation and is
the major process involved in the dark reaction. The energy for this
comes from the first phase of the photosynthetic process with the
production of ATP and NADPH and takes place in the stroma
Stroma : The connective tissue framework of an
organ, gland, or other structure, as distinguished
from the tissues performing the special function of
the organ or part. Site of the dark reaction of
photosynthesis.
of plant leaves. Living systems cannot directly utilize light energy, but
can, through a complicated series of reactions, convert it into C-C bond
energy that can be released by glycolysis
Glycolysis : An ATP-generating
metabolic process that occurs in nearly
all living cells in which glucose is
converted in a series of steps to
pyruvic acid. The metabolic breakdown
of glucose and other sugars that
releases energy in the form of ATP.
and other metabolic processes.
The energy contained in both NADPH and ATP is used to reduce carbon dioxide to
glucose, a type of sugar (C6H12O6). This reaction, shown below, does not require
light, and it is often referred to as the "dark reaction". The 24 hydrogen ions and 24
electrons represent the energy obtained from ATP and NADPH of which the specifics
will be skipped here for simplicity. A simple web search can garner this information if
need be. The total dark reaction is as follows:

6 CO2 + 24 H+ + 24 e- ------> C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6 H2O

The chemical bonds present in glucose

Glucose : A product of photosynthesis and an

important source of physiological energy for plants
and animals. Glucose is a sugar, or carbohydrate.

contain a considerable amount of potential energy. This stored energy is released

whenever glucose is catabolized

Catabolism : The metabolic breakdown of

complex molecules into simpler ones, often
resulting in a release of energy.

to drive cellular processes. The carbon skeleton in glucose also serves as a source of
carbon for the synthesis of other important biochemical compounds such as lipids,
amino acids, and nucleic acids. A lot of glucose is transformed into cellulose

Cellulose : A polysaccharide made up of many

glucose molecules chemically bonded together.
The most abundant compound on earth. It
comprises the bulk of cell walls of plants where it
occurs as microfibrils.

, which comprises the bulk of

Lipids : Diverse class compounds, including fats,

oils, fatty acids, triglycerides and steroids
essential for membrane formation, energy
stores, and fuel molecules.

cell

Amino acid : A ny one of a class of simple organic

compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
nitrogen, and in certain cases sulfur. These
compounds are the building blocks of proteins and
enzymes. They are characterized by the presence
of a carboxyl group (COOH) and an amino group
(NH2) attached to the same carbon at the end of
the compound.

walls vital to plant structure.

In simplest terms, the process of photosynthesis can be viewed as one-half of the

carbon cycle in plants. In this half, energy from the sun is captured and transformed
into plant usable energy, which can be utilized by higher organisms in the food chain
through ingestion or for plant energy. The release of energy during the metabolic re-
conversion of glucose to water and carbon dioxide represents the second half of the
carbon cycle and is termed cellular respiration.