CHLOROPLAST (BIOCHEMICAL REACTIONS AND CYCLES)

-NARENDRAN SAIRAM

Chloroplasts are organelles that are found only in plants and plant-like protists or algae (John C.

Brown, 1995 ). There is one major reaction that takes place in the chloroplast: Photosynthesis.

Photo(light)synthesis(making of) means using light to makes organic molecules (June B. Steinberg,

2000). This reaction is divided into two parts. During photosynthesis, plants take Carbon Dioxide from

their surroundings and use it to make glucose. a) Photophosphorylation or light-dependent reaction and

b)Calvins cycle or light-independent reaction. Photophosphorylation coverts light energy into chemical

energy. Calvin's cycle uses the stored energy, water and CO2 to give glucose.

Since glucose (C6H12O6 ) has bonds that require a lot of energy and since CO2 's carbon-oxygen

bonds don't have too much potential energy, their potential energy must be increased in order to make

glucose. This energy is acquired from the photons of light. In order to use the energy of the photons the

energy must be converted into chemical form to be stored. This process is called Photophosphorylation.

Photo ("light") phosphorylation ("the addition of phosphate to a molecule") basically adds a

phosphate to ADP to make it ATP and there by stores energy in ATP. The process takes place in the

grana (Figure1), within the tylakoids. The environment within the grana is suitable for chemiosmosis

(process where ADP is synthesized to ATP). The photons of light are captured by the antennae called

photosystems and are brought into the reaction center where they are converted into chemical energy.

There are two parts to photophosphorylation.

 Cyclic photophosphorylation: When the light hits the chlorophyll it excites the electrons inside

the thylakoid. The electrons leave the thylakoid and attract a hydrogen ion. They haul the ion

through the electron transportation system (ETS) and leave it the there as a proton. Then the

electron goes back to the photosystem and the process repeats again. The hydrogen protons

inside the thylakoid leave at some point and when they do some of their energy is used in

chemiosmosis. Light energy is successfully converted into chemical energy and stored as ATP.
 This part of photophosphorylation is called cyclic because the excited electron returns to the

photosystem it left.

 Non-Cyclic photophosphorylation:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/biology/chloroplast.html

Copyright John C. Brown, 1995 http://people.ku.edu/~jbrown/chloroplast.html

© copyright June B. Steinberg, 2000 http://faculty.nl.edu/jste/calvin_cycle.htm

Figure1