Photosynthesis

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

4:37 AM

All livng things need energy - to maintain cellular systems

Without inputs - all living things would die
Two main processes - photosynthesis and respiration - really interelated - first photosynthesis - involves plants capturing sunlight energy, using to make
carbohydrate
Carbohydrate used by plant itself or by anything that eats plant
Being used to make energy in ATP - to run cellular processes
Photosynthesis - captures sunlight
Respiration - uses energy captured by sun - carbohydrate - respiration takes
carbohydrate and energy out of it to make ATPs

All life on earth depends on light energy from sun

Has to be inputs of energy to earth - energy comes from sun
Not all organisms can use sun energy directly
Only photosynthesis can capture sun energy and turn to chemical energy
Light from sun - chloroplasts in leaves captured and changed into chemical form of
energy in form of carbohydrate
Carbohydrate - general term that covers glucose and all other terms
Carbohydrate - generate energy
And used by anything that eats green plant
Used by going through cellular respiration
Takes place in mitochondria
What happens is carbohydrate - broken down into energy packets called ATP
ATP used to run cellular processes
Some of energy in carbohydrate - lost as heat
Biproducts of photosynthesis - is oxygen
Oxygen - we breath everyday - gone through green plant
Another interesting thing
Biproduct of respiration - carbondioxide - plants need - make carbohydrate by using
carbon in carbon dioxide to link together a big molecule using sunlight energy thats how carbohydrates are made
Focus on process of photosynthesis
Basic overview of photosynthesis
What are inputs and outputs of photosynthesis - know basic information
Not necessary to know number of molecules of each inputs and outputs
Know

Carbon dioxide + water + light energy - > Carbohydrate oxygen and water
Carbon dioxide - carbon that is used to make carbohydrate
Another input - water
Another thing on input - light energy - required to take carbon dioxide and water to
link to make carbohydrate
Outputs - oxygen - biproduct - plants arent making oxygen on purpose
Glucose - carbohydrate - common sugar - sugar or glucose or carbohydrate - same
thing
Biproduct is also water - both sides of equation

Place where photosynthesis takes place - chloroplasts - found in leaves

Reason leaf is green because chloroplasts are green
Cross section - of a leaf here - in the center of leaf - mesophyll - in mesophyll - we
see cells
Inside - chloroplasts - green dots
Little openings in bottom - stomada - through openings - carbon dioxide goes in
Oxygen leaves the leaf as a biproduct

Process of photosynthesis - involves two sets of reactions

Light dependent reactions - directly involved with harnessing sunlight energy
Light independend - calvin benson cycle - takes energy from light dependent
reactions - used to generate APTs - cells spending money and APTs and other
molecules used to make glucose from carbon dioxide
One way to think - need food but don't have any money - go to ATM to get money
Equivalent to light dependent reactants
Go to sun and say I need money
Sun gives you money in form of energy rich molecules
Now you got money - go get food
Go to grocery store and get ingrediates to make food - equivilant to take enrgy from
ATP and going to grocery store and getting carbon dioxide molecules
Use carbon dioxide to make energy molecules that you need

See light energy coming in

Round things - look like donuts
Parts of choloroplasts Sunlight coming in

Light dependent coming in and taking place

Water - inputs
Output, biproduct - oxygen
What gets made - ATP at bottom middle
Energy rich
Comes out of light dependent reactions
Those energy rich molecules
Used in light independent reaction that involve calvin benson cycle
Carbon dioxide - comes in energy from APT used to link 6 together to form sugar
molecule

Energy that comes from sun - called radiation

Whole spectrum of wavelengths - short wavelenths to long wavelengths
Names on black bar
Gamma, x rays, infrared
Portion of this spectrum - visible light spectrum
Partitioned out sector in middle
Visible light
Comes in different colors and different wavelengths
Part of visible wavelength used in photosynthesis

Photosynthesis - light dependent reactions

Changing light energy into chemical energy
Visible light
Somehow turned into chemical energy of atp and carbohydrate

How can sunlight energy be used

How energy from sun - converted to another type of energy
Know about pigments obsorbed sun energy
Black rock - pick up energy
Energy from sun picked up and converted into another form
Number of possibilities
Thing heats up - converted visible light to energy of heat
Another possibility - glow sticks Put under light and turn off and they glow
Fluorecense - take energy from light and turn into fluoresence
Excite electrions best way for plant - last one - best thing - excite election - excited
electron - enrgy be used in chemical reactions

Plants - things called photosystems - involve collections of pigments including

chlorophyll
Special photosystems - found in chloroplats - structures in cell
One things - they are green
Reason - chlorophyll in chloroplasts absorbs light in visible spectrum except green
portion
Diagram here - absorbtion spectrum - but these mountain things you see - indicates
portions of visible light spectrum are obsorbed
Light is not obsorbed in valley
These chlorophyll molecules obsorb blue and yellow red but not greenish yellow
What that means - when you look at leaf and sunlight is shining on leaf, blues and
reds of sunlight energy being abosrbed but green is being reflected

Photosystem - collection of chlorophyll molecules inside chloroplats inside leaf

Sunlight energy comes from little packets called photons
Incoming sunlight - photon energy packets - banging into photosystem
Way energy is captured - electrons in photosystem - get excited by these photons
that have come in and energy is transferred into excited electrons

Have excited electrons - means electrons have a lot of energy associated with them
Take energy and use it to make things like ATP by sending excited electrons through
electron transport chain - excited electrons to other molecules electron transport
chain - like hot potato

Sent excited through chain - some energy comes off and make energy rich electrons
Make ATP - $1 - basic spending money
NADPH - $5 - bigger denomination
Made in coupling reactions

Some of energy comes off to make ATP and NADPH

In process of losing these electrons have to somehow replace electrons
Can't keep removing and sending them down electron transport chain
We need to get some electrons back
Taken from hydrogen atom that comes from splitting water
Taking water and splitting hydrogen out
Bi-product is oxygen gets released
Oxygen comes from water molecule
Electrons lost by chlorophyll molecule are replaced by splitting a water molecule
and taking electrons from the hydrogen
O2 is released: source of oxygen in atmosphere
Light dependent - sunlight coming in - picked up by excited electron - passed
through electron transport chain - used energy to make ATP and NADPH and oxygen
released

Take ATP and NADPH and use that, pick up carbon dioxide and use ATP and NADPH
and use that and carbon to construct carbon dioxide

Light independent reactions

Take energy from ATP and NADPH - take C02 and build carbohydrate molecule
Specifically glucose
6 carbon sugar
Make from 6 molecules of C02
Requires many steps
Calvin benson cycle
Begins with carbon fixation
Pick up carbon molecules from air
Enzume called rubisco - molecule called rubisco - picks up carbon molecules from
air
Pick one up - take energy from ATP and NADPH and build glucose molecule

Summarize whole process - remind ourselves of general inputs and outputs

Carbon dioxide + water + sunlight energy (light dependent reactions) - > glucose
molecules + oxygen + water

Involves many separate reactions

Light independent - first things - grab C02 from air - rubisco - to do that
Make glucose
Other ways of fixing carbon
Grabbing from air as carbon fixation
Other ways of going about this
And to understand why other ways exist - problems with doing photosynthesis
Type that we described - C3 photosynthesis
Fine process - but problem in plants in hot dry places Cross section of leaf - green things in leaf
Chloroplasts and chlorophyl
In bottom - openings in leaf - stomada Openings necessary - carbon dioxide needs to get into leaf to do photosynthesis
Oxygen - has to get out of a leaf
Openings in leaf that allow this to happen
Great, good system - except through same openings - some of the moisture - water
molecules can also escape
Way the leaf can dry out
Leaf - in cool moist environment - no big problem, open stomada allow c02 to come
in and 02 to come out in very humid place

Dry environment - stomada - opening yourself up to drying out

In hot environment - close stomata - to reduce posibility of drying out
Limits photosynthesis

Close stomata - not much c02 come in but still some

Enzyme rubisco - can't fix carbon In addition to picking up carbon dioxide also picks up oxygen
Relatively small molecules
When stomata are closed, plant doing photosynthesis - a lot of oxygen building up
A lot more oxygen than carbon dioxide
Rubisco - glommed up with 02 - can't pick up more carbon dioxide - called
photorespiration

What does a plant do this different - fixing carbon different

C4 plant - have internal pump - another molecule can pick up c02 and can deliver it
to rubisco
Surrounded by c02 instead of oxygen
Function to pick up carbon dioxide and fix carbon
C4 plants in hotter dryer climates to south
Some here in iowa but not a lot native
Corn and crabgrass - c4 plants
See difference between c4 and c3 plants by looking at how c3 plants compare with
c4 plants under certain conditions
A lawn in spring - lawn greens up
Probably called bluegrass - c3 plant - spring, moist, lot of rain
As we go from spring to summer - bluegrass - looks like its dying but turns brown
and goes dormant - too hot for it to do photosynthesis
Green patches in lawn - hottest part in summer
Crab grass - c4 plant - can do just fine
Not as well in colder moist
In summer does better

Soybeans - do better when cooler, moist

C4 - abundant crop of corn in summer, dry, but not of soybeans

Cam plants do photosynthesis almost same

CAM close stomata during hot daytime hours, to reduce water loss
Open at night when cooler
Light dependent reactions - do that with stomata closed - nothing going on that
requires C02
Building up ATP and NADPH
Build up in daytime
In night, cooler, open stomata, do light independent reactions at night In hot dry conditions - cactus, jade plant

Respiration - where chemical energy in molecules - glucose - is released in a series

of reactions
Take a look of equation - summarizes
C6h1206 + 02 - > c02 + h20 + energy
Glucose oxygen carbon dioxide, water, energy

Something like it in photosynthesis

Difference here
Intputs and outputs are reversed

Carbon bonds - between carbon atoms - broken and energy released in process
Name respiration Respiration in humans - breathing in and out
In here - cellular respiration
In cells to break down molecules and get some energy
Respiration breathing in and out related to cellular respiration
Breathing out carbon dioxide
Breathing in - oxygen

Respiration with and without oxygen

On input side - oxygen
Glucose, oxygen, carbon dioxide from water and got energy
Respiration with oxygen and without oxygen
Two general kinds of organisms

Aerobes - dependent on oxygen for respiratoin

Anaerobes - organisms not dependent on oxygen

Humans - in presence of oxygen

Brief periods of anaerobically
Other animals don't require oxygen - anaerobes
Terms - you might be familiar with
Aerobic excersize - as we're breathing, relatively moderate
Anaerobic excersize - sprinting

Need for oxygen

Finder groups of organisms - some need it some of time, some can do without it

Facultative - anerobes - with or without oxygen - if oxygen is present - use it, if it

isn't - they have another way to break down glucose as well
Yeast - bread rising or making wine or beer
Organisms - obliagate aerobes - only live without oxygen for brief periods - most
organisms including humans
Need oxygen or we're dead
Obligate anaerobes - can't live with oxygen - poison to them
Bacteria in gut - no oxygen in them
Mud of lakes, botulism and tetanus - obligate anaerobes
Botulism - canning process - bacteria in peaches - grow under anaerobe - toxin
poison and kill people
Tetanus - cut or deep wound - tetanus shot - comes from bacteria in soil - get on
some object,
Wound deep wound - anaerobic - no oxygen - bacteria produce toxin and produce
tetanus

Aerobic respiration and fermentation - breakdown of glucose in the presence of

oxygen
Aerobic respiration - in presence of air
Organisms breaking down without oxygen - fermentation

Aerobic respiration
Occurs in 3 different stages

Each stage - has number of chemical reactions associated with them

Glucose molecule - 6 carbons connected to each other
1st stage - glycolysis - glucose molecule broken in half
Every time carbon bonds is broken energy is released - whole process of respiration
is about
Breaking carbons off - energy is realeased to make ATPs
Take and break in half
2nd stage - krebs cycle - 2 - 3 carbon compounds - break them down further - takes
carbon off one by one and makes carbon dioxide and water is formed as well
3rd stage - electron transport chain - made some energy rich molecules - cell wants
to have ATPs - cell spending money
We also made some larger denomination bills - 5 or 10 dollar bills
Electron transport chain - take large energy molecules and cash them in for ATPs energy from them to make ATPs

Glycolysis - break it in half - one carbon bonds and now we have 2

Pyruvate - some energy is released
Energy released to make ATPs
ADP and phosphate and make ATP - ATPs
Make something called NADH - more energy rich molecule and take this and save it
for later and cash it in electron transpport chain
Glycolosis - takes place in cytoplasm in cell - not organells
Produces only about 10% of the energy the cell obtains from aerobic respiration of
glucose
Small steps (reactions)
Include stages 2 and 3 - the energy we make in glycolosis is only 10% of that
energy
All of these processes - involve many many small steps, not a single reaction

Stages 2 and 3 of aerobic respiration takes place in mitocondria

Because aerobic respiration takes place

Glucose molecule in half and have 2 pyruvate molecules

Stage 2
Take pyruvate molecules and feed them into krebs cycle - break carbons off and
energy is released
Energy released - make ATP
And other energy rich molecule such as NADH
Carbon dioxide is released

Stage 3 - electron transport chain Get a lot of ATP energy cell is looking for
Energy rich molecules NADH - cashed in for ATP
Electrons stripped from NADH and passed along to other molecules in a chain
ATPs made as electrons are passed - alittle bit of energy is released to make ATPs
Last molecule electrons are passed to is oxygen - critical in entire process
Oxygen accepts electrons - forms of hydrogen and hydrogen + oxygen = water

1st stage - cytoplasma 2nd and 3rd - mitocondria

Glycolosis Glucose - input
Right we get ATPs - are symbolized as coins
Energy currency
Off to left - on bottom - NADHs - not worried about how many we get
Glycolisis - 2 pyruvate Pyruvate - sent to kreb cycle, 3 carbon thing
Carbon bonds broken
Carbon dioxide released
Some ATP is made
See to left - we made NADH and made another energy rich molecule FADH2
Take energy rich molecule - send them into electron transport system
Symbolize electron e negative sign
Electrons passed from one molecule to another
Symbolized as going down steps

Once it accepts electrons

Water is formed and cashed NADH and FADH2 - into ATPs

Simple summary Breakdown of glucose molecule

C6h1206+ o2 - c02 + h20
Energy couple with energy requiring reaction
Phosphate with ADP to make ATP
Energy requiring
Many ATP produced
Pretty efficient
Energy transformation - not perfect transportation
Can't capture all energy in glucose molecule
But pretty efficient
40% of energy glucose captured as ATP but 60% is lost

Fermentation - what if no oxygen is available

How do they get energy?
Anaerobic orgniasms - entire lives without oxygen
Aerobic organisms - cant get oxygen - animal sprinting
3 stages - glycolisis, kreb, electron transport stage
No oxygen - transport chain shuts down and kreb shuts down
Glycolisis can continue as long as we do extra steps
Pyruvate end of glycolisis - changes to allow glycolisis to continue

Modify pyruvate that we call the process of fermentation

2 types - lactate fermentation
Alcohol fermentation

Lactate fermentation Pyruvate is turned into something called lactate or lactic acid
Takes place in muscles deprived in oxygen (sprinting)
Builds up in muscles when you do things like sprinting
Can't get enough oxygen to muscles to use glucose thats stored in muscles to get
energy out
Can do - glycolosis + extra steps - produce lactate acid
Another area where you encounter lactate - certain bacteria
When anaerobic - lactate fermentation
Container of milk - no oxygen - bacteria can live - spoired milk - bacteia is sour
But you can make cheese, yougurt or butter milk

Alcoholic fermentation Alcohol fermentation - pyruvate - do some further chemical reactions - end product
of reactions is alcohol and carbon dioxide
Yeast - alcoholic fermentation
Yeast - wine making and bread baking
Wine making - how do we make wine? Get grapes or other kind of fruits
Have yeast already
Mash up grapes, put them in closed container
No oxygen container

Do alcoholic fermentation
Break down glucose in grapes
Make alcohol and carbon dioxide
Be careful of
If you put in closed container
When carbon dioxide made - can explode
Venting out carbon dioxide
If you think about baking bread - take flour sugar and put yeast in there
Dough rises - yeast inside ball of dough - no oxygen and doing anaerobic respiration
Carbon dioxide they produce
Carbon dioxide - air bubbles (carbon dioxide bubbles) in dough and makes dough
rise - further rising as C02 expand in baking process

Many kinds of animals - do anaerobic repiration

Movement requires muscles to use energy
Muscles - many types of animimals - different kinds of fibers

Fast twitch muscle fibers - associated with sprinting or anaerobic activities - few
mitochondria - organelles involved in aerobic respiration - doing anaerobic
respiration - instead lactate fermentation takes place - encoutered fast twitch
muscle fibers - white meat of chicken - consists of muscles - primarily of fast twitch
type - white - very few blood vessels there
How are they connected?
If you got muscles - primarily doing sprinting activities - most of energy is not
derrived from glucose that comes in from blood vesseles - stored as glycogen in
muscles themselves - white meat is - breast muscles - used for flight muscles connected to wings
Only fly for certain amount of time, so far until you run out of energy, get more aerobic respiration - composed of fast twitch, not many blood vessels, not many
mitochondria
Slow twitch muscle fibers
Both kinds in any kind of muscle find both types of fibers, proportion of fibers - may
vary from one person to next - associate with marathon activities - aerobic activities
Many mitochondria - found in legs of chicken - dark meet - dark because many
blood vessels - bring in glucose broken down aerobic respiration
Most muscles are mix between the two
Ourselves and leg muscles - running very rapidly, running slowly for longer period
Proportion of muscle fibers
Sprinters - fast twitch
Marathoners - large proportion of slow twitch
Some proportions - determiicned by genetics - born sprinter, born runner
Amount of training you can do as well

Foods that we eat - some of things are not glucose or carbohydrates Fats, proteins, neucleic acids
Broken down and fed into glycolisis or kreg cycle and produce energy in way we
described

Fats - important
Proteins can be used but typically not used for that
If person is starving - use proteins as fuel
People who are starving muscle wasted away - being used as fuel

Role of fat - storing energy

Fat molecules can be broken down and fed into glycolisis
Fat - as energy source
Not quite the same as glucose
Fat - primarily storage form of energy
Think about energy needs of organism
Can't eat something everytime we need energy
Important we store energy
Use it to do various types of things
We don't store glucose as glucose itself - glycogen
Very efficient way is store it as fat
Reason - fat is very energy dense molecule
Gram of molecule - gram of fat 2 times energy as glucose
Advantage as fat?
Average person - 10% of weight of fat
Can't store as ATP
Use energy to build fats
Instead of fat - save energy as glycogen - instead of 15 pounds, you have 30 pounds
- not energy dense
Fat - efficient of carrying enery reserves -

Want to get out of this - form of energy most useful - ATP

Can't store large quantities of ATP

Bad thing about storing energy as fat

When our calorie intake is greater - body naturally store excess as fat
Natural process - body doesn't know what is coming next
Storing fat is good thing in cases you have starvation
Common thing - machinery put in place to deal with that
Most of us - don't have periods of starvation
People - interested in how to get rid of fat
Excersize and fat metabolism Reduce amount of fat - eat less - body starts to mobilze fat for energy production
Another way - through excersize - aerobic exercise - interesting things
Low intensity - walking mostly fatate
Walking you're burning mostly fat not carbohydrate
More intense - uses mix of fats and carbs
High intensity - uses mostly carbs
But really - most important thing - burn most fat you can
Amount of fat is importante
Turns out - amount of fat burned- greater with more instence excersize
Riding bike - moderate level - 15 minutes - burn more fat than walking for 45
minutes
More intense - body metabolism - reved up - not so much losing fat during exercise,
after excersice - metabolism is active longer- still burn fat
When walking - 1-2 hours

More intense - 4-5-12 hours

All that time, burning fat
Interested in metabolising fat - run or biking - moderately intense activity , burns up
more fat