Photosynthesis

I. Overview of the Process

• definition

• note: plants are sometimes like animals
• the summary equation: 

H₂O + CO₂ --> (CH₂O)n + O₂

• facts and figures
• photosynthesis as a carbon sink

II. How does it work?

A. Light Reactions

1. general characteristics

2. absorption spectrum experiment

• wavelengths of light

• extraction of pigments

• absorption spectrum

• why are green plants green?
• structure of chlorophyll

3. action spectrum experiment

• why measure oxygen evolution?
• compare action and absorption experiments

• role of accessory pigments

4. Where do the light reactions take place in the plant cell?

• parts of the chloroplast  

• freeze-etch EM view of thylakoid

• particles in the membrane (PS I, PS II, LHC, cytochrome complex, ATPase coupling factor) have a specific orientation
• What happens when light (a photon) strikes a molecule?

• What happens when light strikes a molecule of chlorophyll in the reactive center? 

-Fluorescence

 

-Energy conserved by an electron carrier

• What are all the other chlorophyll and accessory pigments for?
• How do the two photosystems cooperate to produce the products of the light reactions?

• How is ATP synthesized in the chloroplast?
• How is the proton gradient "battery" utilized in the chloroplast?-The Chemiosmotic Hypothesis

• How does the ATPase CF work?
• What are the final products of the light reactions?

B. THE CALVIN CYCLE REACTIONS

1. Where do the Calvin Cycle reactions take place in the plant cell?

• review chloroplast structure
• What is a metabolic cycle?
• What will serve as an energy source to keep the Calvin Cycle running?
• What are the end products of this cycle?
• The Key Reaction of the cycle: rubisco:the most abundant protein on earth; reaction reaction2

C. SUMMARY OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS