Photosynthesis Revision Notes

Autotroph

Can synthesise complex organic molecules from simple molecules

2 types

Photo
autotrophsuse sunlight and simple inorganic molecules to synthesise
complex organic molecules plants some bacteria and algae
eg
Chemo
autotrophs use energy in simple organic molecules to create the
complex organic molecules nitrifying bacteria bacteria found on undersea
eg
vents

Heterotrophs

Cannot synthesise their own complex organic molecules from inorganic molecules

Instead they must take in and digest complex organic molecules

Eg Animals fungi and some protocists

An Overview
of photosynthesis

Light energy is transformed into chemical potential energy in a complex metabolic

pathway It is a series of reactions linked to each other in numerous steps
many are catalysed
by enzymes

Two main stages to photosynthesis

Light Dependent stage

Photolysis cyclic and non cyclic photo

phosphorylation

Light Independent stage

Calvin Cycle
 Chloroplasts
Disc shaped and are approx 10pm long
Double membrane
Inner membrane is folded into sheets called thylahoids
Thylakoid is periodically stacked into columns called grana
A liquid called the stroma surrounds the grana and thylahoids

Stroma
lamella

Intermembrane

space

Thylahoids Grana

site of light absorption together with NADPH and ATP synthesis during light
dependent stage

contains pigments arranged into photosystems

 Stroma

Fluid filled matrix The light independent reactions occur here coz is absorbed
and Glucose produced

starch Grains and oil droplets are found in the stroma

Also contains DNA and prokaryote type ribosomes

Photosynthetic Pigments and Photosystems

Photosynthetic pigments are coloured compounds present

in chloroplasts that capture the light energy necessary for photosynthesis

2 main groups Chlorophylls and Carotenoids

Chlorophylls Chlorophyll a Chlorophyll b

Carotenoids
β carotene xanthophyll

Photosynthetic pigments are arranged into clusters called photosystems

Most of the pigments in a photosystem are accessory pigments chlorophyll

b and carotenoids

A few are primary pigments chlorophyll a that form the reaction centre

Light energy is initially absorbed by the accessory pigments and the energy
is passed onto the reaction centre chlorophyll molecules

Upon reaching the reaction centre the light energy causes a pair of
electrons associated with the mg atom at the centre of the chlorophyll
a molecule to become excited

These high energy electrons are then passed to an electron acceptor

which forms the beginning of the electron transport chain present in the
thylakoid membranes

Types of Pigments

2 main groups Chlorophyll and Carotenoids

 Pigment sub types colour of Pigment

chlorophyll chlorophyll a Yellow green

chlorophyll b blue green

Carotenoids β carotene
orange
Xanthophyll yellow

There are two types of photosystem known as photosystem I and

photosystem 11

light absorbed the

by chlorophyll a
I fifteh Ine reach lengthenffe

PSI 700 nm
PSII 680 nm

Must recognise thin layer chromatography

silica Gel is used as the stationary phase

Light Dependent Reaction

Photophosphorylation describes the production of ATP using light there are two
types cyclic and non cyclic

Non Cyclic
I

Cyclic
 LDR's overview

Involves using light energy to excite electrons from mg atoms inside

molecules of chlorophyll a

The excited electrons are captured electron acceptors and are passed
by
along a series of electron carriers embedded on the thylakoid membranes
the Electron Transport Chain

The lose energy as they pass down the ETC This energy is
electrons
used to pump H ions which forms a proton gradient This in turn
is used to create ATP

Reduced NADP NADPH is also produced during the LDRs This is used
later to reduce Co2 and produce organic molecules

Water is split photolysis to provide a source of electrons and

protons

NADP NADPH

light Dependent

Water Reactions
Oxygen

ADP Pi ATP

How is ATP produced

Energy released from the ETC is used topump protons active

transport across the thylakoid membrane from the stroma into the
space where accumulate
thylakoid they
A proton electrochemical gradient is formed across the thylakoid
membrane The protons flow down their gradient through an enzyme
called ATP synthase

ATP synthase uses the potential energy of the proton gradient to

phosphorylate ADP and form ATP

This flow of protons is called chemiosmosis

 Cyclic Photophosphorylation

Only involves Photosystem 1

Electrons are excited captured by the ETC proteins and their energy
used to phosphorylate ADP

At the end of the ETC the electrons are returned to the photosystem

No Involvement
of NADP reductase
No Photolysis of water

Light Independent Reaction

Overview

Products of the LDR Oz ATP t reduced NADP NADPH

ATP and contain chemical potential energy and a source
NADPH
of Ht These
are used to reduce carbon dioxide to produce carbohydrate
Occurs in the stroma
series of reactions known as the Calvin cycle

NADPH NADP

light independent

carbon Reaction glucose

Dioxide

ay app Pi

The chloroplast stroma contains an enzyme called RuBisCo

RuBisCo catalyses a reaction that combines carbon dioxide with a five carbon
compound called ribulose bisphosphate Rupp

The resulting six carbon intermediate compound immediately splits to form two three
carbon molecules called glycerate 3 phosphate caps
From here GP is changed into another 3 carbon molecule called Triose Phosphate
TP but this step requires energy and H from NADPH and ATP

One sixth of the TP molecules are converted into carbohydrates including glucose
and sucrose

Five sixths of the TP molecules are used to regenerate RuBP in a

step requiring energy from ATP

Catalysed RuBP
byRuBisCo
carboxylase

ur
 A limiting factor is something that
Limiting Factors will limit rate if at sub optimal level

An increase in light intensity will affect the rate of the LDRs More electrons
will take part in photophosphorylation so more ATP and NADPH will be
produced

4R's calvin cycle as sources of Ht

Ethan et If p ftp
ATP is also used to phosphorylate 516ᵗʰ of the TP produced to regenerate
RuBP

If no little light is available the LDR's will stop this will affect the LIR's

GP cannot be changed to TP so will accumulate and levels of TP will fall

A lack of TP will lower the amount of RuBP reducing the fixation of CO2

Increased CO2 conc means more molecules of GP and hence more

molecules
of TP will be produced

IfCO2 conc is reduced below 0.01 then RUBP the CO2 acceptor will
accumulate Levels of GP and TP subsequently fall

Increased temperature will have little effect on the LDR's but

will have a major impact on the calvin cycle very high temps
will of course denature the proteins and enzymes involved in both the
LDRs and URs
At temps above 25 c Rubisco changes its activity Instead of combining
CO2 with RuBP it switches and starts to catalyse a reaction in which
Oz is combined instead

This is known as respiration

photo
The overall rate of photosynthesis is reduced and it wastes supplies of
RuBP and ATP

Hydrogen Peroxide is also produced which is toxic

Transpiration and Photosynthesis

stomata will open in response to high coz conc Leading to increased

transpiration and a risk of wilting if the plant cannot uptake enough water
from soil

Induces a stress response which closes stomata and reduces rate of

photosynthesis

High temps will also cause an increase in transpiration andmay lead to

the same stress response and reduction in rate of photosynthesis

Measuring the Rate of photosynthesis

like all chemical reactions the rate of photosynthesis can be calculated
by either

Measuring how quickly the reactants are used up

or

Measuring how quickly the products are produced

Many different approaches

Photosynthometer
The Hill reaction
Englemann's experiment
 I The photosynthometer

Measuring the rate at which oxygen is released is an obvious way

to investigate the rate of photosynthesis

The problem is that plants carry out respiration as well as photosynthesis

which uses
up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide
It is actually the net rate of photosynthesis that is actually
measured

An easy way to measure net rate is to use aquatic plant and

an
count the number of bubbles released from the stem in a
fixed time

However this method is not reliable since bubbles vary in size

the bubbles of gas should be

Instead collected in a fixed period of
time and their volume measured

2 The Hill reaction

This is used to measure the effect of different wavelengths of light

on the rate of photosynthesis

Dichlorophenolindophenol Depp can be used to investigate the light

dependent stage of photosynthesis

Dale is a dye that changes colour depending on whether it is oxidised

or reduced

Depp takes part in the same oxidation reduction reactions that normally
involve the enzyme NADP reductase

If the blue green mixture to light the

is exposed
Depip is reduced to a colourless form and the final
colour observed is the green of the leaf extract

The time taken for this gradual colour change from

blue green is a measure of the rate at which
the light dependent stage occurs
 The sucrose solution in the Hill reaction is used to prevent
the chloroplasts from bursting
Supernatant liquid part no chloroplasts

Buffer solution maintains optimum pH

3 Engelmann's experiment

Engelmann used a prism to disperse sunlight into a rainbow that

was allowed to fall on an aquatic algal filament called spirogyra

A population of Oz seeking bacteria was introduced into the system

The bacteria congregated in the regions of the filaments that gave off
the most 02

These were the regions illuminated blue light and red

by light

• Grana (plural: grana):

◦Inner part of chloroplasts made of stacks of thylakoid membranes, where the light dependent
stage of photosynthesis takes place.

• Photosynthetic pigment:
◦Pigments that absorb speci c wavelengths of light and traps the energy associated with the
light; such pigments include chlorophylls a and b, carotene and xanthophyll

• Photosystem:
◦System of photosynthetic pigments found in thylakoids of chloroplasts; each photosystem
contains about 300 molecules of chlorophyll that trap photons and pass their energy to a
primary pigment reaction centre, a molecule of chlorophyll a, during the light dependent
stage of photosynthesis

• Stroma:
◦Fluid lled matrix of chloroplasts, where the light-independent stage of photosynthesis takes
place

• Thylakoid:
 ◦Flattened membrane bound sac found inside chloroplasts; contains photosynthetic
pigments/photosystems and is the site of the light-dependent stage of photosynthesis

• Electron carriers:
◦Molecules that can accept one or more electrons and then donate those electrons to another
carrier. Proteins embedded in thylakoid membranes are electron carriers, and form an
electron transport chain or system. Ferredoxin, NAD and NADP are also electron carriers

• NADP:
◦Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate; a coenzyme and electron and hydrogen
carrier

• Photophosphorylation:
◦The generation of ATP from ADP and inorganic phosphate, in the presence of light

• Calvin cycle:
◦Metabolic pathway of the light-independent stage of photosynthesis, occurring (in eukaryotic
cells) in the stroma of chloroplasts where CO2 is xed, with the products of the light
dependent stage, to make organic compounds. The Calvin cycle also occurs in many
photoautotrophic bacteria.

• Glycerate-3-phosphate (GP):
◦An intermediate compound in the Calvin cycle

• Ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP):

◦A 5 carbon compound present in chloroplasts; a carbon dioxide acceptor

• Triose phosphate (TP):

◦A 3 carbon compound, and the product of the Calvin cycle; can be used to make other larger
organic molecules

• Light Intensity:
◦Level of light

• Water stress:
◦The condition a plant will experience when water supply becomes limiting