CHAPTER 4.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Photosynthesis is the process by which

autotrophic organisms use light energy to
make sugar and oxygen gas from carbon
dioxide and water

Introduction
Green plants use sunlight as an energy
source, carbon dioxide and water as raw
material for photosynthesis
The light energy trapped by green plant is
converted to chemical energy and stored
in the bonds of organic molecules such as
carbohydrates
Oxygen is released as a by product
There are 2 types of autotroph :
Chemosynthesis and Photosynthesis

Chemosynthesis is the process in which

carbohydrates are manufactured from
carbon dioxide and water using chemical
nutrients as the energy source. Occur
only in certain groups of bacteria

Photosynthesis is the process by which

autotrophic organisms use light energy to
make sugar and oxygen gas from carbon
dioxide and water. Occur in plants, algae,
some other protists.

Structure of Chloroplast

Chloroplast are the sites of photosynthesis in

plant
Any green part of a plant has chloroplast
However, the leaves are the major site of
photosynthesis for most plants
In plants, chloroplast are normally found in the
mesophyll cell of leaves
A typical palisade cell has about 30 to 40
chloroplasts
Many chloroplasts are biconvex disc, 3-10m long
and 2-4m wide

The location and structure of chloroplasts

Chloroplast
LEAF CROSS SECTION

MESOPHYLL CELL

LEAF
Mesophyll

CHLOROPLAST

Intermembrane space
Outer
membrane

Granum
Grana
Figure 7.2

Stroma

Inner
membrane
Stroma

Thylakoid

Thylakoid
compartment

The chloroplast envelope consists of two

membranes, outer membrane and inner
membrane covered the matrix called stroma
A system of interconnecting membranous
flatted sacs called thylakoids
At certain places within the chloroplast the
thylakoid membranes are arranged in stacks
called grana
There are about 50 grana in a chloroplast and
each granum is made up of between 2 to 100
thylakoids.

The thylakoid membranes and grana

increase the surface area for attachment
of chlorophyll molecules, accessory
pigments and electron carriers involve in
the light reactions
The thylakoid membranes are surrounded
by a semi-fluid, stroma
Stroma contain circular DNA, ribosomes
and enzymes which catalyse dark
reaction, starch granules and lipid

The pigments present in thylakoid

membranes consist largely of two kinds of
green chlorophylls, chlorophylls a and
chlorophylls b
Pigments are molecules that absorb
certain wavelengths of light and transmit
others
Chlorophyll a absorbed the red light and
the blue light and it is the most abundant
pigments in plants

Chlorophyll b absorbed only blue light

and transmitted green light, thus the
leaves look green
Light

Chloroplast

Absorbed
light
Transmitted
light

Reflected
light

There are other pigments related in

absorbing light at certain wavelengths
These pigments believed to give the
absorbed energy to chlorophyll a (reaction
center) and these pigments called antenna
molecules
Chlorophyll is most abundant pigments and
functioning in absorbing light and changes
to chemical energy. The light consists of
energy particle called photons

When chlorophyll absorbed a photon, an

electron excited to a high level-energy
state and released from the chlorophyll
The photosynthetic pigments in the
thylakoid membrane formed pigment
complex (300 pigments) and only one of
the chlorophyll a will act as reaction center
(P700 or P680)
There are 2 types of photosystem:
Photosystem I and Photosystem II

A photosystem
Is

composed of a reaction center surrounded by a

number of light-harvesting complexes

Thylakoid

How a photosystem
harvests light
Photosystem

Photon

STROMA

Thylakoid membrane

Light-harvesting
complexes

Transfer
of energy

Figure 10.12

Reaction
center

Primary election
acceptor

Special
chlorophyll a
molecules

Pigment
molecules

THYLAKOID SPACE
(INTERIOR OF THYLAKOID)

1)When a photon strikes a

pigment molecule in a lightharvesting complex,the
energy is passed from
molecule to molecule until
it reaches the reaction
center.
2)At the reaction center an
exited electron from one of
the two special chlorophyll
a molecules is captured by
the primary electron
acceptor

The reaction center for Photosystem I is

chlorophyll a (P700) and for Photosystem
II is a chlorophyll a (P680)
The photosynthesis pathway involves 2
reactions: light reaction and dark reaction
Light reaction occur in thylakoid
membrane
Dark reaction (Calvin cycle) occur in
stroma

An overview of photosynthesis:cooperation of the light reactions and the calvin

cycle

H2O

CO2

Light
NADP
ADP
+ P
LIGHT
REACTIONS

CALVIN
CYCLE
ATP
NADPH

Chloroplast

Figure 10.5

O2

[CH2O]
(sugar)

1)In chloroplast,the
tylakoid membranes
are the sites of the
light reactions
whereas the Calvin
cycle occurs in the
stroma
2)Light reaction use
solar energy to make
ATP and
NADPH,which
function as chemical
energy and reducing
power,respectively in
the Calvin cycle
3)Calvin cycle
incorporates CO2 into
organic
molecules,which are
converted to sugar

Light Reaction

The thylakoid convert light energy into chemical

energy of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and NADPH
(nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate)

Antenna molecule captured the light and transferred

to reaction center molecule
In light reaction, both chlorophyll system,
Photosystem I and Photosystem II absorbed the
light energy (photon) and will reactive the reaction
center chlorophyll PS I and PS II until the electron
excited and released. This process known as photoactivation

Light Reaction has 2 phases:

1)Water photolysis
2)Photophosphorylation(Cyclic and Uncylic)

Water photolysis
Water photolysis is a process of splitting of
water molecules
Hydrogen ion will be released into the
stroma to combine with NADP to formed
NADPH
The electron was used to stabilized the
reaction center

Photophosphorylation

Is the process where the ATP formed when the

excited electron from the chlorophyll molecules
transferred along the electron transport chain

ATP is the sources of energy and NADPH is a

reduction agent (dark reaction)

The chlorophyll that lose the electron become

positive charges and unstable

During the transfer of electron from carrier to

another from high energy level to low energy level,
there are a lot of energy released

Cont

This energy was used to combine the phosphate molecule to

the ADP molecules to form ATP(phosphorylation) and because
of this energy come from light, this process called
photophosphorylation

If the excited and released electron come back to the

same chlorophyll to stabilized, this is known as cyclic
photophosphorylation

If the electron not coming back to the chlorophyll and

this chlorophyll was stabilized by the electron from
water photolysis and this is known as uncyclic
photophosporylation

Uncyclic photophosphorylation
Produces NADPH, ATP and oxygen
H2 O

CO2

Light
NADP+
ADP

CALVIN
CYCLE

LIGHT
REACTIONS
ATP
NADPH

O2

[CH2O] (sugar)

Primary
acceptor
2

Elec
tr

Pq
e

H2 O
2 H+

on t
ra ns
p ort

Fd
chai

e
NADP+
reductase

NADPH
+ H+

P700

ATP

Photosystem II
(PS II)

NADP+
+ 2 H+

PC

P680

Figure 10.13

8
e

Cytochrome
complex

+
O2
1
Light

Primary
acceptor

El
Tra ectro
ns n
ch por
ain t
7

Photosystem-I
(PS I)

Light

a) Uncyclic photophosphorylation

Most of the ATP was produced

through uncyclic
photophosphorylation

The process starts when the photon

excited an electron in the chlorophyll
molecules associated with PS II

When the energy is transmitted to the

reaction center, chlorophyll P680
passes on excited electron to primary
electron acceptor (pheophytin)

Cont

The electron then gradually

stepped down in potential energy
through redox reaction among a
series of Pq (plastoquinone) and
cytochrome complex

PS II is connected to the
cytochrome complex by Pq.

Cytochrome complex is
connected to PS I by a small
protein called Pc (plastocyanin)

Cont.

The protein picks up an

electron from the
cytochrome complex,
diffuses along the thylakoid
membrane and donates the
electron to PS I. This
chlorophyll is called P700.
The electron from PS I are
transferred to protein Fd
(ferredoxin), which triggers
the reduction of NADP to
NADPH.

Cont

This process is continuously

where the lost electron
chlorophyll from PS I will be
stabilized by the electron
from PS II, whereas the lost
electron in the PS II will be
stabilized by electron from
water photolysis

In cyclic photophosphorylation
Only

photosystem I is used
Only ATP is produced

Primary
acceptor

Primary
acceptor

Fd

Fd

Pq

NADP+
reductase

Cytochrome
complex
Pc

Figure 10.15

Photosystem II

ATP

Photosystem I

NADP+
NADPH

b) Cyclic
photophosphorylation

The excited electron from PS I will all the way back to

the chlorophyll in PS I

One photon of light absorbed by the light-harvesting

pigment complex of PS I (P700) will be accepted by high
energy primary electron acceptor and will be carried
through the series of electron carrier (Fd, cytochrome
complex, Pc)

During this process, the energy was released and used

in ATP synthesis

Cont

The cyclic photophosphorylation is important due

to the production of additional ATP for Calvin
cycle used

Light reaction is important due to the ATP

production which is the source of energy for dark
reaction

The end product of light reaction are ATP, NADPH

and oxygen

Dark Reaction

Occur in the stroma of chloroplast and involve

the reduction of carbon dioxide to form
carbohydrate.

Dark reaction need the energy that was supplied

by ATP (from light reaction)

The reduction agent is the NADPH (product from

light reaction)

Dark reaction involve the series of enzymatic

reaction and known as Calvin Cycle

Cont

The actual sugar product of the Calvin cycle is not glucose

(C6H12O6), but a three-carbon sugar, glyceraldehyde-3phosphate (G3P)

Each turn of the Calvin cycle fixes one carbon

For the net synthesis of one G3P molecule, the cycle must
take place three time, fixing three molecule of CO2

To make one glucose molecules would require six cycle and

the fixation of CO2 molecules

Dark reaction consists of 3 main parts:

1.
2.
3.

Carbon fixation
Reduction
Regeneration of CO2 acceptor (RuBP)

The Calvin cycle

Light

H2O

CO2

Input
(Entering one
3
CO2 at a time)

NADP+
ADP

CALVIN
CYCLE

LIGHT
REACTION
ATP
NADPH

O2

Rubisco

[CH2O] (sugar)

Phase P1: Carbon fixation

3 P

3 P

Short-lived
intermediate

Ribulose bisphosphate
(RuBP)

3-Phosphoglycerate

ATP

6 ADP

CALVIN
CYCLE

3 ADP
3

6 P

ATP

1,3-Bisphoglycerate
6 NADPH
Phase 3:
Regeneration of
the CO2 acceptor
5
(RuBP)

6 NADPH+
6 P
P

(G3P)

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
(G3P)

Figure 10.18

G3P
(a sugar)
Output

Glucose and
other organic
compounds

Phase 2:
Reduction

1. Carbon fixation

It is the first step in dark reaction

Each CO2 (1C) molecule is

attached to a RuBP (5C) to form
unstable six-carbon (6C)

This is catalyzed by Rubisco

The 6C splits in half to form two

molecule of 3-phosphoglycerate
(3-PGA)

2. Reduction

During reduction, each 3-PGA

receives another phosphate group
from ATP to form 1,3
bisphosphoglycerate

Electron from NADPH reduce 1,3

bisphophoglycerate to G3P
(glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate)

If our goal was to reproduce one

G3P net, we would start with 3 CO2
(3C) and 3 RuBP (15C)

Cont

After fixation and reduction we would have

six molecule G3P (18C)
One of these six G3P (3C) is a net gain of
carbohydrate
The other five G3P (15C) must remain in the cycle
to regenerate three RuBP

3. Regeneration

In the last phase, these five G3P

molecules are rearranged to form
3 RuBP molecule.

To do this, the cycle must spend 3

molecule of ATP to complete the
cycle and prepare for the next.

For the net synthesis of one G3P

molecule, the Calvin cycle
consumes 9 ATP and 6 NADPH

Factors affecting rate of

photosynthesis
1.

Light intensity

Green plants require sunlight to carry out

photosynthesis
The most effective light for photosynthesis is red
and blue light
The light intensity influenced the light reaction in
photosynthesis
If there is not limited factors, the rate of
photosynthesis is increase followed the light
intensity

Cont.
2.

Temperature

The rate of dark reaction was influenced by

temperature because dark reaction was
catalyzed by the enzyme
The rate of photosynthesis is maximum at the
room temperature or medium temperature of 20o
35oC
If the temperature above of 40oC, it will
denaturalize the enzyme and the photosynthesis
slowly stopped

Cont
3.

CO2 concentration

The rate of photosynthesis is directly proportional

to the carbon dioxide concentration
The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is
only 0.035%. When value increase, the rate of
photosynthesis also increase until a maximum
level 1.0%. A concentration of CO2 that exceeds
1.0% will stimulate the closing of the stomata and
will reduce the rate of photosynthesis.