1. Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids such as lycopene and beta carotene.

These
photo-pigments have alternating single and double bonds which gives them the ability to
absorb light.

2. Chlorophyll a - Main light absorption pigment. ​Chlorophyll a absorbs the wavelengths of

violet-blue and orange-red light at 675nm and functions as a primary electron donor
during the electron transport chain in photosynthesis. It also functions in transporting
energy to the reaction center where P680 and P700 are located. It also reflects green light.
Chlorophyll b- Chlorophyll b absorbs wavelengths of light at 640 nm. It is the accessory
pigment that collect photons of light and passes it to chlorophyll a. It also regulates the
size of antenna and is more absorbable than chlorophyll a.
Carotenoids- Absorbs light at wavelengths that are not absorbed by chlorophyll a and b.
They act as supplementary light receptors

3. Having several different types of light absorbing pigment extends the spectrum a plant
could use by enabling it to absorb light at different wavelengths.

4. Three ways energized chlorophyll molecule can return to its ground state are
Resonance energy light transfer- Energy is passed to onto the neighbouring chlorophyll
Dissipation of the light energy as heat- When the electron becomes excited in order for it
to return to its ground state energy is released by giving off heat and light.
Charge separation- Chlorophyll molecules becomes excited and passes the electron to the
redox center of a more positive molecule. The chlorophyll molecule becomes oxidised
whists the acceptor becomes reduced
5. Light energy does not hit the chlorophyll directly therefore antenna chlorophylls are used
to capture light in a wide area and then transfer the energy to the special pair. The process
by which this is done is known as resonance transfer.

When light energy falls on the antenna chlorophyll pigments, the energy is absorbed and
an electron is promoted to the excited state. This electron would want to decay so it
passes the energy to a neighbouring antenna pigment molecule so it goes back to its
ground state. The electrons of the neighbouring chlorophyll molecule becomes excited
and wants to decay so it passes on the energy to another neighbouring chlorophyll so that
it can return to its ground state. Due to this light energy is bounced around the antenna
pigment molecules and keeps moving by resonance transfer until it reaches the reaction
center chlorophyll which contains the special pair. The light energy is stuck there and
cannot move by resonance transfer since there is a unique protein environment causing a
modulated energy potential and there is a lower energy state i.e more positive energy
state than the other chlorophyll. To transfer an electron bach to the surround chlorophyll
molecules energy would have to be put in. Next to the reaction center there is a primary
electron acceptor that is in the oxidised state and has a more positive energy state than the
special pair chlorophyll. Therefore charge separation is done to pass the electrons to the
primary electron acceptor reaction center.
6. The Z scheme is a representation of the photosynthetic electron transport chain. The zig
zag shape represents the changes in reduction potential as a series of electron carrier
transfers that occurs in photosynthetic apparatus. The zig zag shape starts at water which
undergoes lysis to extract its electrons which are passed to the special pair in P680 of
photosystem II. A photon of light is absorbed causing the electron to become excited and
promoted to P680*. This causes the reduction potential to become more negative moving
it upwards the vertical axis in relation to the reduction potential scale.The electron then
flows downhill through a series of electron carriers, pheophytin, Qa, Qb and then to a
protein complex known as cytochrome b₆f complex followed by P700. P700 absorbs a
photon of light causing the electron becomes excited and promoted to P700* making the
reduction potential more negative creating an upstream flow. The electron is then flowed
downstream through A₀, A₁, 4Fe-4S, ferredoxin, ferredoxin NADP⁺ reductase and
NADPH.

7. Plants extract electrons for photosynthesis from H₂O in photosystem II which has an
extension into the lumen side of the thylakoid membrane. Water is split on the lumen side
of the membrane to form 4 electrons, 4 protons and oxygen.

The water splitting apparatus contains 4 manganese atoms, calcium and 4 sequential
events where electrons are removed one at a time from water and donated into the
photosystem. The S state cycle is the process used to extract the electrons from water.
 Two water molecules enter the system in the S₀ state where the four manganese ions are
chelated with four oxygen and a calcium ion. One of the water molecules binds onto the
manganese ion while the other binds onto the calcium ion. From the water molecule
bonded onto the manganese ion, one proton and an electron is removed to form a hydroxy
intermediate which is held tightly. The state of the system changes to S₁ and the
manganese goes into the +3 state. An electron is then extracted from the hydroxyl
intermediate and the system to go into the S₂ state. Another electron and a proton is then
extracted leaving only an oxygen that is double bonded onto the manganese ion and the
system goes into the S₃ state and the manganese goes to the +4 state . One more proton is
then extracted and the state changes S₄, the manganese ion goes into the +5 state. An
oxygen-oxygen bond is then formed between the oxygen bonded onto the manganese ion
and the oxygen from the water molecule bonded onto the calcium ion. In doing so, a
proton is removed, the manganese goes back to the +3 state and oxygen gas is removed
followed by another proton. The system goes back to an S₀ where two more water
molecules can bind.

8. Electrons are passed from PQH₂ to PC (plastocyanin) in the b₆f complex via the
photosynthetic Q cycle which takes place in the thylakoid membrane. Plastocyanin is a
peripheral protein associated with the lumen side of the membrane that acts one electron
carrier and contains a single copper ion. There are two binding sites for plastoquinone,
one is located on the lumen side known as Q while the other is located on the stromal
side known Q . There is also a rieske iron sulfur center, cytochrome f, two b hemes, a
high potential known as b and a low potential known as b , located on the same
polypeptide. Plastoquinone enters through the lumen side and binds onto the Q binding
 site and donates electrons to the rieske iron sulfur center which then goes to cytochrome f
and then to plastocyanin which becomes reduced and carries the downstream to
photosystem I . Subsequently plastoquinone becomes a semiquinone (SQ) by losing two
protons which are released on the lumen side causing it to become acidified. The second
electron then donated and cycles through b and b and then down to Q causing the
semiquinone to become Q. Q then quickly moves down to the Q binding site where it
accepts the electron that was cycled through the b hemes and becomes a semiquinone
again.

Another PQH₂ enters through the lumen side and binds onto the Q binding site and
donates electrons to the rieske iron sulfur center which then goes to cytochrome f and
then to plastocyanin where it carries it downstream to photosystem I. It loses two protons
to the lumen side and becomes a SQ and then loses and electron which is cycled through
the b heme and goes down to the Q site where there is a SQ. The SQ accepts the
electrons and picks up two protons from the stromal side and becomes a plastoquinone.

9. Ferredoxin is a water soluble electron carrier of one electron. The ferredoxin cannot
directly pass its electrons to NADP⁺ to form NADPH since NADPH is a two electron
carrier an adapter is required for this to occur. The adapter used is a protein known as
ferredoxin NADP⁺ reductase.Ferredoxin NAD⁺ reductase contains an NADP⁺ binding
site and iron sulphur center and FAD. The electrons are moved from ferredoxin to
NADP⁺ in two stages.
 The reduced ferredoxin enters ferredoxin NADP⁺ reductase and passes an electron and a
proton causing a semiquinone to be formed since FAD reduces itself to FADH. A second
reduced ferredoxin enters and binds, becomes oxidised by giving up one proton and one
electron and FADH becomes FADH₂ by accepting the proton and the electron. FADH₂
is tightly associated and cannot move so NADP⁺ comes in the binding site and picks up
two electrons and a proton and becomes the fully reduced NADPH.

10. State transitions ensure the light reactions are at their optimum under different light
conditions by moving the light harvesting complex between photosystem I and
photosystem II during the day to maintain the rate of electron transfer and ensure the two
photosystems work at the same speed. Light harvesting complexes traps light and passes
it to the photosystems. This is done since during the day the plant experiences different
wavelengths. In the morning hours there are more red light indicating longer wavelengths
of light is emitted, at noon shorter wavelengths of light is emitted and in the evening
hours there are longer wavelengths of light are emitted again. P680 and P700 are the
redox centers of the photosystems II and I respectively. These redox centers runs in series
and absorbs at different wavelengths causing one to be working faster than the other at
different times of the day. In the morning and evening hours P700 works faster than P680
whilst at noon P680 works faster. When P680 works faster it cannot pass it electrons to
P700 and becomes over energised leading to reactive oxygen species. When P700 works
faster than P680 the system becomes unenergized and inefficient. To prevent this, at noon
when P680 works faster the light harvesting complex becomes phosphorylated and
moves to associate with photosystem I whilst in the evening hours when P700 works
faster the light harvesting complex moves back to photosystem II.
Reference List

"Difference Between Chlorophyll A And B | Difference Between".nd.

Differencebetween.Net​.
http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-chlorophyl
l-a-and-b​/.

Lennon, Dr. Adrian. 2019. "Photosynthesis Lecture 1". Presentation, The University
Of The West Indies St.Augustine, , 2019.

Lennon, Dr. Adrian. 2019. "Photosynthesis Lecture 2". Presentation, The University
Of The West Indies St.Augustine, , 2019.

Nelson, David L, Michael M Cox, and Albert L Lehninger. 2013. ​Lehninger,

Principles Of Biochemistry.​ New York: Macmillan Higher Education.