Lesson 26 - Light Reactions of Photosynthesis On

Biochemistry of Photosynthesis
Converting light energy into chemical

energy!
Light energy
6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2

Photosynthetic
pigments
Let’s get an overview of what we will be
discussing…watch the video and take notes!
• His name was Joseph Priestly and the year was 1772. Basically
Priestly demonstrated that if you placed a candle in a Bell jar in the
presence of plants it would continue to burn (goes out without plants).
He also demonstrated that a mouse would "injure" the air in placed in
a Bell jar (mouse dies) but would live with a plant present.
• Shortly after in 1778, Jan Ingenhousz repeated Priestly's experiments
and discovered that sun and light on the plant was necessary for the
experiment to work properly (the mouse must survive!).
• Antoine Lavoisier (French chemist) was able to prove that plants
enriched the air in Priestly's experiments with OXYGEN.
• In 1782 Jean Senebier showed that the
ability of pants to produce oxygen in the
light also required the presence of carbon
dioxide.
• Soon afterwards Theodore de Saussure
showed that an increase in the mass of the
plant as it grows was not solely due to the
uptake of carbon dioxide but also water.
The Chloroplast
• The chloroplast is the organelle of photosynthesis. In many ways
it resembles the mitochondrion and that they both evolved from
prokaryotic cells (Lynn Margulis – ENDOSYMBIOTIC THEORY
– see the next slide for video):
• both contain their own DNA
• both contain their own ribosomes (70S)
• both are involved in energy metabolism
• both are surrounded by a double membrane with an intermembrane
space
• both have membrane reticulations filling their inner space to increase
the surface area on which reactions with membrane-bound proteins
can take place
• both are approximately the same size (a chloroplast is usually 5- 10X
larger)
Watch this amazing video on the
ENDOSYMBIOTIC THEORY.
Name the parts of this chloroplast.
grana
stroma
Outer membrane
Inner membrane
thylakoid
Function of Chloroplast
• The primary function of the chloroplast is to
"convert light energy into a useful chemical
form, ATP and NADPH. This chemical energy is
subsequently required for the conversion of
carbon dioxide to carbohydrates - these processes
take place completely within the plant chloroplast.
Palisade and spongy mesophyll cells of leaves
typically contain a large number of chloroplasts.
• Chloroplasts are filled with an aqueous solution
called stroma. Dissolved in the stroma are the
enzymes necessary for the conversion of carbon
dioxide to a carbohydrate. The THYLAKOID is
the structural unit of photosynthesis.
Thylakoids are stacked like pancakes in stacks
known as "GRANA". The areas in between the
grana are referred to as the "STROMA".
Light Reactions on thylakoid
membrane.
• It is upon the THYLAKOID membrane
that ATP and NADPH are produced by
the conversion of light energy into
chemical energy (LIGHT-DEPENDENT
REACTIONS).
• The "thylakoid" membranes contain ALL of the
pigments necessary in the light absorption process
- CHLOROPHYLL and CAROTENOIDS. These
membranes appear "green" in colour due to the
presence of chlorophyll pigments.
• THUS, the LIGHT REACTIONS of
photosynthesis take place in THYLAKOID
MEMBRANES while the DARK REACTIONS of
photosynthesis take place in the STROMA.
Wavelengths and Light Energy
• When light is being emitted or absorbed by
a substance it behaves as though it were a
stream of "particles" (light behaves both as
a wave and a particle). A particle of
electromagnetic radiation is called a
"quantum" - a quantum of light many
also be called a "PHOTON".
• When light encounters a molecule it may be
reflected, transmitted or absorbed.
Biologically we are interested in the last
choice - what happens when a "photon" of
light is absorbed?
• When a photon is absorbed it disappears but
passes on it's energy remains - this
additional energy causes the electron to
move to the next orbital position - a higher
state of energy. The atom is now said to
be "excited
• Each wavelength (colour) of visible light is
associated with photons of one distinct amount of
energy. Longer-wavelength photons have smaller
amounts of energy and shorter-wavelength
photons have larger amounts of energy. The
wavelength of the photon, and thus the colour of
light, that an atom or molecule absorbs is
determined by the energy levels of the electrons in
that atom or molecule
• This process of light-dependent oxidation
is called "PHOTO-OXIDATION" as the
absorbing molecule will lose an electron
and is then oxidized. The molecule which
then captures the electron is said to be
reduced. The "Photo-oxidation" of
chlorophyll is the central feature of
photosynthesis.
• A compound that absorbs certain wavelengths of
visible light is called a pigment.
• A photosynthetic pigment is a compound that traps
light energy and passes it on to other compounds.
When sunlight is available, pigments embedded in
the thylakoid membranes absorb light energy,
initiating the light-dependent reactions.
Eventually, the energy is used to synthesize high-
energy compounds.
• The next figure shows the absorbance spectra of two of the
forms of chlorophyll.
• Also included is the absorbance spectrum of another
pigment called beta-carotene.
• Beta-carotene is responsible for the orange colour of
carrots. Beta-carotene is a member of a very large class of
pigments called carotenoids. The carotenoids absorb blue
and green light, so they are yellow, orange, and red in
colour. The coloured leaves of some trees in autumn are
due to carotenoids and other pigments.
Photosynthetic pigments
• Chlorophylls a and b
• Carotenoids
Chlorophyll a
Chlorophyll a
Chlorophyll b Chlorophyll b
Relative absorbance Carotene
Carotene
Relative photosynthesis
• The point of light energy striking photosynthetic
pigments in out case is for the energy to trigger a
chemical reaction - in other words -
photosynthesis!
• NEXT SLIDE is the "action spectra" of a green

plant. The action spectra is a term used to identify
the pigment responsible for the photosynthetic
process. Note - the relative absorbency is very
closely linked with the rate of photosynthesis!
Explain:
Let’s watch this video and add to
our notes…Part 1
PHOTOSYSTEMs I and II
• The work of Robert Emerson during the 1930's showed
that only a small amount portion of chlorophyll molecules
are directly involved in the conversion of radiant energy
into chemical energy. This discovery by Emerson gave
rise to the term "PHOTOSYNTHETIC UNIT".
• Pigments do not absorb light independently. Instead,
chlorophyll molecules act as clusters of chlorophyll and
other pigment molecules that are associated with a specific
group of proteins. These clusters are embedded in the
thylakoid membranes. The core group of chlorophyll
molecules and proteins in the centre of this cluster is called
a photosystem.
Photosystems
Photosystems
• Within each photosynthetic unit is a single chlorophyll
molecule which functions as a catalytic site - known
as a "reaction centre". In the reaction centre that
this chlorophyll molecule will photochemically
transform the light energy to stable chemical energy.
The remaining chlorophyll are known as
"ANTENNA CHLOROPHYLL". In much the
same way that a TV antenna picks up signals, the
antenna chlorophyll molecules and other pigments in
the "photosynthetic" unit absorb photons and pass the
energy on to the reaction centre.
• There existed two different "PHOTOSYSTEMS"
• one that absorbed and was driven by short wavelength light (680 nm
or less)
• one that was driven by long wavelength light (greater than 680nm).
• In order for photosynthesis to operate efficiently, both systems must
operate simultaneously.
• The two systems are known as PSI (also known as P700) and PSII
(also known as P680) and each contains a reaction centre (one
chlorophyll a molecule) surrounded by 40 - 70 antenna chlorophyll a’s
and other pigments. In addition, each system has associated with it
various protein molecules and electron carriers.
Photolysis of water – we have to
replace the lost electrons!
Light
H 2O 2H+ + 2e- + 1/2O2
Light Reactions
1. Light dependent reactions
- What molecule accepts the electrons and
what is made as a result?
2. What else is produced?
3. How does this compare with

chemiosmosis found in the mitochondria?
Non-Cyclic Photophosphorylation (Z
scheme)
Cyclic Photophosphorylation
Comparing the two systems…
Part 2 – Cyclic and Non-Cyclic
LIGHT DEPENDENT REACTIONS LIGHT INDEPENDENT REACTION
1. Cyclic photophosphorylation 1. Calvin cycle

2. Non-cyclic photophsphorylation
3. Photolysis of water
ATP
Light energy is harnessed to create Energy from ATP and hydrogen from
molecules of ATP and reduced NADP. reduced NADP are used to fix
These are then passed to the light atmospheric CO2 and convert it into
independent stage molecules of glucose
Reduced NADP
Water is consumed
Oxygen is given off as a waste

product
This all happens on the thylakoid This takes place in the stroma of the
membrane of the chloroplast chloroplast
Most common exam questions
● Where do the electrons come from which replace those
lost from Photosystem 2 during non cyclic
photophosphorylation?
● Where do the electrons come from which replace those lost
in Photosystem 1 during non cyclic photophosphorylation?
● Where do the electrons and hydrogen's come from which
enable NADP to be reduced?
● Where do the electrons come from which replace those lost
in cyclic photophosphorylation?
Good summary video of the
Light Reactions…

Lesson 26 - Light Reactions of Photosynthesis On

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Biochemistry of Photosynthesis

Converting light energy into chemical

6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2

• NEXT SLIDE is the "action spectra" of a green

2. What else is produced?

3. How does this compare with

1. Cyclic photophosphorylation 1. Calvin cycle

Oxygen is given off as a waste

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