Photosynthesis

(Anabolism)
 Introduction
 Photon = Light, Synthesis = Putting together
 an anabolic process by which green plant synthesize
carbohydrates (initially glucose) utilizing carbon dioxide
and water, in presence of sunlight. Oxygen releases as by-
products.
 General equation of photo synthesis:

 solar energy/radiant energy/light energy converted into

chemical energy.
 Oxygen liberated during photosynthesis comes from
water and not from carbon dioxide (Van Neil and Robert Hill)
 Correct biochemical reaction for photosynthesis
 Significance of Photosynthesis:
 natural process which sustains life on earth.
 synthesizes organic food from inorganic raw materials.
 sugars produced during photosynthesis either stored in the
form of carbohydrates or used in the biosynthesis of other
organic compounds.
 the green plants- producers of all ecosystem
 converts radiant /solar energy into chemical energy and
stored in the organic food- provide energy to carry out their
life activities.
 O2 release during photosynthesis helps to purify air and
maintains balance of O2 and CO2 in nature.
 About 90 % of total O2 produced through photosynthesis is
produced by aquatic flora (specially algae) of ocean.
Contd….
 Oxygenic photosynthesis converts anaerobic condition into
aerobic condition in the earth.
 The energy rich fossil fuels like natural gas, coal, petroleum
etc are also indirect result of photosynthesis
 produced useful plant products e.g., timber, rubber, resins,
drugs, oils, fibers, etc.

“Photosynthesis is primary source of organic food, food

energy (ATP) and oxygen for all forms of life, either directly
or indirectly”
Photosynthetic Apparatus: Chloroplast

Thylakoid
 Photosynthetic Pigments
 Pigments - chemical compounds which reflect
wavelengths of visible light.
 Photosynthetic pigments: pigments involve in
photosynthesis, located in thylakoids of chloroplast
and take part in the absorption of light energy from
sun
 three types of photosynthetic pigments-
 chlorophyll, carotenoids and phycobillins
Chlorophylls:
 Term coined by Pelletier and Cavento (1817)
 green pigments, abundant in green parts of plant
 Insoluble in water, soluble in organic solvents
 Types: chl-a, b, c, d, e, bacterial chlorophyll, and
bacterioviridine
 Chl-a: commomn and found in almost all plants
except bacteria
Cont…….
Cont….
Chlorophyll molecule:
 magnesium porphyrin compounds
 porphyrin ring- consists of four pyrrol
rings joined together by CH bridges
 A long chain of C atoms- called as phytol tail- attached to
porphyrin ring at 4th pyrrol ring
 Each pyrrol ring- made up of four carbon and one nitrogen
Molecular formulae:
 chlorophyll-a = C55H72O5N4Mg
 chlorophyll-b = C55H70O6N4Mg
 Both chlorophylls consist of Mg- porphyrin ‘head’
(hydrophilic) and a phytol ‘tail’ (lipophilic)
 The two chlorophylls differ in second pyrrole ring at 3-
Carbon, chlorophyll-a has -CH3 whereas chlorophyll-b there
is a -CHO group instead of a CH3 group
Cont…..

Porphyrin
“Head”

Phytol
“Tail”
Cont….
Carotenoids (Red, yellow or orange pigments):
light-harvesting chemicals (accessory pigment) in
photosynthesis- two types:
(i) Carotenes:
 Common in plants
 Insoluble in water, soluble in organic solvents
 consist of an open chain conjugated double bond
system ending on both sides by ‘ionone’ rings.
 General formula=C40H56 (hydrocarbons)
(ii) Xanthophyll: (Carotenols)
 similar to carotenes but differ in having two oxygen
atoms in the form of hydroxyl, carbonyl, or carboxyl
groups attached to the ionone rings.
 General formula=C40H56O2.
Cont……
Cont…….

Phycobillins (Red and Blue Pigments):

 Phycoerythrin- red, Phycocynin- blue
 Soluble in water
 consist of an open conjugated system of
four pyrrol rings and lack Mg and the phytol
chain.
 Phycobiliproteins are organized into larger
macromolecular complexes in the cell and
are called as phycobilisomes.
 Found in cyanobacteria (blue green algae)
 Absorption and utilization of light energy by
photosynthetic pigments
 Chief source of light energy for photosynthesis- Sun
 Pigments of chloroplast - absorb light energy in the visible
parts of the spectrum – consists of radiations having a wave
length between 390-760 nm.
 Absorption spectrum - set of wavelengths absorbed by a
pigment, diff. pigment show diff. absorption spectrum
 Photon/Quantum - elementary particle of light contains
certain amount of energy,
 Energy in photon- inversely proportional to wavelength of
light
 Quantum requirement- number of photon required to
release one molecule of oxygen
 Quantum yield- number of oxygen released per photon
Wave length of light
Cont……
 Earth receives 40 % (about 5x1020 KCal) of total solar energy
 All light energy falling on green parts of the plants- not
absorbed and utilized by pigments
 About 1 % of the total solar energy received by the earth
absorbed by the pigments and utilized in photosynthesis

Among the pigments:

 Chlorophyll a – major light harvesting pigment
 Other remaining pigments – accessory pigments
 Accessory pigments absorbed light energy from sun and
transferred to chl-a molecule which alone can take part in
primary photochemical reaction in photosynthesis.
 Chl-a molecule absorbed light energy directly from sun
 Mechanism of Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis-
 complex oxidation and reduction process
 CO2- reduced into carbohydrate
 H2O- oxidized to release O2
 Completed in two main stages
1. light reaction- primary photochemical reaction
2. Dark reaction- path of carbon in photosynthesis
Contd
 Light Reaction
 First stage of photosynthesis
 Light dependent phase: takes place in presence of light -
Primary photochemical reaction
 Hill reaction- after the name of Robin Hill (1937)-
discovered photolysis of water in isolated chloroplast in
presence of ferrocyanide (electron acceptor)
 Takes place in grana of chloroplast
 Chlorophyll absorbs light energy to split water (photolysis
of water)
 Assimilatory powers (ATP and NADPH2)- generated
 Assimilatory powers- utilized to reduced CO2 into
carbohydrate during dark reaction.
 Oxygen: by-product
 Faster than dark reaction
 Steps of light reaction
 Step 1. Photo-exitation of chl-a:
• Photosynthetic pigments
absorb light energy of different
wavelength in the visible parts
of spectrum
• light energy absorbed by
accessory pigments- transfer
into chl-a (reaction centre)
• chl-a absorbs light energy
directly from sun
• when chl-a absorbs light
energy it gets excited and
expels one electron into higher
level called excited singlet state
Photosystem I and II
 Chloroplast- two groups of
pigments- photosystem I (PSI)
and Photosystem II (PSII)
 Each photosystem- reaction
centre and accessory pigments
 Reaction centre of each
photosystem collects all energy
from accessory pigment -
becomes rich in energy and
gets excited then expels
electron
 PSI: chl-a of reaction centre
absorbs light upto 700 nm- so
called P700 (P= pigment)
 PSII: chl-a of reaction centre
absorb light upto 680 nm-
called P680
 Cont….
Step II. Photolysis of water
 breakdown of water and release of oxygen in present of light
(splitting of water in present of light)
 Takes place in PS II
-
 Water molecules split into OH and H+
-
 OH ions unite to form water molecules again and released O2
and electrons
light -
4H2O 4H+ + 4OH
- Mn++ -
4OH Cl- 2H2O + O2 + 4e
 One electron per water molecule
 One oxygen per 4 molecule of water
 Electron – accepted by PS II
 4 quanta (photon) of light
 Hydrogen ion – combine with NADP to form NADPH2
(assimilatory power)
Step III. Photophosphorylation
 “Process of formation of energy rich compound ATP in
chloroplast from ADP and inorganic phosphate in presence of
light.” Process is catalyzed by an enzyme ATPase.
ATPase
ADP + iP Light ATP
 PSI and PSII involve for the formation of ATP (high phosphate
compound) and NADPH2 (reducing agent)
Process:
 Absorption of light energy (photon) by accessory pigments
 Transfer of energy into reaction centers of photosystems
 Activation of reaction centers (P680) and expel of electron
 Energy rich electron passes downhill through the series of
electron carriers (plastoquinone-PQ, cytochrome complexes –
Cytb & Cytf, plastocyanin-PC and ferredoxin- Fd)
 Release of energy in the form of ATP
 Reduction of NADP into NADPH2 by utilizing hydrogen ion
release during photolysis of water
 Types of Photophosphorylation
1. Non-cyclic
Photophosphorylation
 Involves both PS I and PSII
 Photolysis of water
 Production of ATP,
NADPH2 and O2
 Electrons do not revert
back
 Pathway of electron: Non-
cyclic
 Common in all plants,
absent in bacteria
2. Cyclic
Photophosphorylation
 Involves PS I only
 No photolysis of water
 Production of ATP
 No production of
NADPH2 and O2
 Electron returns back into
the same reaction center
 Pathway of electron: Cyclic
 Common in all plants and
bacteria
Z-Scheme

Primary
Acceptor
Cyclic Photophosphorylation
Cont….
 Dark Reaction/Calvin cycle/C3 cycle
 Second or last stage of photosynthesis
 Light independent phage
 Takes place in stroma of chloroplast
 Fixation of CO2
 Utilization of ATP and NADPH2
 Reduction of CO2 into carbohydrate
 Discovered by Melvin Calvin, Benson and their co-workers
in Chlorella in USA (1954)
 Calvin- Nobel Prize (1961) winner
Calvin cycle can be study under three headings:
1. Carboxylation: fixation of CO2 by RuBP (ribulose 1,5
biphosphate) in presence of an enzyme Rubisco (RuBP
carboxylase)
2. Glycolytic reversal: conversion of 3PGA to glucose
3. Regeneration of RuBP
 Calvin Cycle (C3 Cycle)

Carboxylation
carboxydismutase (3-PGA)

Glycolytic Reversal
Regeneration
of RuBP

6CO2+12NADPH+ + 12 H+ + 18 ATP C6H12O6+12NADP++ 18ADP+18ip+6H2O

Carboxylation

Glycolytic Reversal
Regeneration
of RuBP
C4 cycle (Dicarboxylic Acid Pathway or Hatch and Slack cycle)
 Photosynthesis in C4 plants
 Discovered by Hatch and Slack (1997) in sugarcane
 First CO2 acceptor- PEP (Phosphoenol pyruvic acid)
 First stable product- OAA (Oxaloacetic acid: 4-C
compound)
 Anatomy of leaf of C4 plants: Krantz anatomy- cane type
Vascular bundle- surrounded by bundle sheath
chloroplasts of mesophyll cells- contain grana: light
reaction and CO2 fixation
chloroplasts of bundle sheath- lack grana:
refixation of CO2 and its reduction (C3 cycle)
 Examples of C4 plants: Tropical plants of hot climate
sugarcane, maize, Euphorbia, Amaranthus, Chenopodium,
Sorghum, etc.
Leaf showing Kranz Anatomy
Malate
C4
 Significance of C4 plants
 Low photorespiration- enhances sugar production
 More productive than C3 plants
 More efficient in fixation of CO2 in low
concentration Of CO2 (10 ppm) because of high
affinity of PEP
 Mesophyll cells pump CO2 into the bundle sheath
cells, keeping CO2 levels high enough for rubisco
to accept CO2 and not O2
 Adapted to high temp. (30- 450 C), low water
availability, intense radiation and salinity condition
(50-100 ppm) (0-10 ppm)
Photorespiration (Glyoxylate metabolism/ C2 cycle)
 Utilization of O2 and release of CO2 in presence of
light
 Oxidation of organic compounds in plants by O2 in
the presence of light
 ATP – not generated
 Assimilatory powers (ATP & NADPH2)- utilized-
energy consuming process
 Wasteful process
 Common in C3 plants
 Enhanced by high light intensity, high temperature, and
high O2 and low CO2 concentration
 Site of photorespiration: chloroplast, peroxisome and
mitochondria
 Photorespiration (Glyoxylate metabolism/ C2 cycle)
Oxidase Transminase

Phosphatase

RuBP oxygenase Catalase

Transferase
NAD
ADP

• Under high O2 and low CO2 concentration in the

atmosphere, the affinity of RuBP carboxylase for CO2
decreases and affinity for O2 increases
• RuBP carboxylase converted into RuBP oxygenage
• oxydation of RuBP- produce phosphoglyceric acid and 2-
phosphoglycolate
Significance of photorespiration
 Energy consuming process
 Assimilatory powers (ATP and NADPH2)-
not produced
 Reduces rate of photosynthesis by 50% and
decreases production rate
 Wasteful process.
 Factors affecting photosynthesis
External factors:
1. Light:
 Quality of light:
➢ absorption of light in visible part of spectrum
➢ Photosynthesis in red, green and blue light
 Intensity of light:
➢ directly proportional to light intensity
➢ Sciophytes (grow in shady place) and heliophytes (grow in
sunny places
➢ Extremely intense light- other factors become limiting factors
 Duration of light:
➢ Rate of photosynthesis higher in intermittent light than
continuous light
➢ Solarization: inhibitory effect on photosynthesis
➢ More than 12 hours light duration- decrease in
photosynthetic rate
Contd
2. Carbondioxide:
 Raw material
 Limiting factors:
➢ rate of photosynthesis increases if concentration of CO2 in atm.
increased by 1% of optimum level and decreases beyond the level
➢ Rate of photosynthesis decreases in low concentration of CO2 of
optimum level in atm.
 Compensation point:
➢ C3 plants- 50 to 100 ppm and C4 plants- 0 to10 ppm
3. Temparature:
 Directly proportional
 Optimum temperature- C3 plants- 10 to 350 C and C4 plants- 30
to 450 C
 Different plants require different temperature
 Extremely high temp. denature enzymes
4. water:
• Raw material and have indirect effect on photosynthesis
• Deficiency of water- wilting of plants and closing of stomata
Cont…
5. Oxygen:
 By-product
 Accumulation of O2- decreases the rate of photosynthesis
(Warburg effect- in Chlorella)
 High conc. Of O2 in atm.- enhanced Glycolate synthesis
(photorespiration)
6. Mineral nutrients
 Cu, Mn, Cl, K etc
Internal Factors
1. Chlorophyll content:
 Directly proportional
 Chlorosis (yellowish of leaf)- reduces the rate of photosynthesis
2. Protoplasmic factors:
 Proper hydration of protoplasm – increase enzymatic activity
Cont…
3. Accumulation of end product of photosynthesis:
 Accumulation of carbohydrates- reduces the rate of
photosynthesis
4. Anatomy of leaf:
Rate of photosynthesis depends upon-
 Thickness of cuticle and epidermis
 Number, structure, and distribution of stomata
 Distribution and relative proportion of chlorophillous and
non-chlorophillous mesophyll tissue
 Structure and distribution of vascular tissues
5. Age of leaf:
6. Rate of photosynthesis- higher in mature leaf
 Experiments
To demonstrate that oxygen is evolved during photosynthesis
To demonstrate that carbon dioxide is necessary for
photosynthesis by Moll’s half leaf experiment
To demonstrate that Chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis
To demonstrate that light is necessary for photosynthesis
The End