5.6 Photosynthesis Flashcards
What is autotrophic nutrition?
Process where chemical energy, from simple inorganic molecules such as water and carbon dioxide, synethsise large organic molecules that forms the biulding blocks of living cells.
What are organisms that photosynthesise called?
Photoautotrophs.
What are organsims that photosynthesise called photoautotrophs?
Because they use light energy as the source for autotrophic nutrition.
What are photoautrotrophs also known as?
Producers- as they’re at the beginning (first trophic level) of the food chain and provide energy and organic molecules to other non-photoautotrophic, organisms.
What is the general equation for photosynthesis?
6CO2 + 6H2O + light energy from photons -> C6H12O6 + 6O2
What is the main products of photosynthesis?
A monosaccharide sugar (glucose) that can be turned into disaccharides for transport and then to storage.
What process of photosynthesis an example of?
Carbon fixation- the process by which carbon dioxide is converted into sugars.
What sort of reaction is carbon fixation?
Endothermic reaction, so it needs energy.
What does carbon fixation help regulate?
The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans.
Summarise what happens in plant respiration.
During respiration, the oxidise organic molecules that have previously sythesised by photosynethsis and stored, releasing chemical energy.
What is a heterotroph?
Organism that obtains energy by digesting complex organic molecules of food or smaller molecules that they can use as respiratory substances. e.g. fungi, animals, many protoctists and many bacteria.
Summarise what happens in respiration.
Gkucose and other organic compounds are oxidised to produce carbon dioxide and water- it releases chemical energy (exothermic) that can drive an organisms metabolism.
What is the general equation for respiration?
C6H12O6 +6O2 -> 6CO2 + energy
What is photosynthesis and aerobic respiration important for?
Cycling carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere.
When do plants respire?
All the time
When do plants photosynthesise?
During the daylight.
Why do plants compete for light.
The intensity of the light must be sufficient to allow photosynthesis at a rate that replenishes the carbohydrate stores used up by respiration.
What is the compensation point?
When photosynthesis and respiration proseed at the same rate so there is not net gain of carbohydrate.
What is it called when photosynthesis and respiration proseed at the same rate?
Compensation point.
At what point/s on the graph are the compenation point for a plant?
What is the time taken for a plant by a plant to reach it compentation point called?
Commpenation period- this is different for every species of plant.
What is the compenstation period like of shade plants compared to that of sun plants?
Shade plants can utalise light of lower intensity than sun plants can. When exposed to light after being in the darkness, shade plants reach their compensation point sooner, therefore, have a smaller compensation period.
What is a granum?
An inner part of a chloroplast made of stacks of thylakoid membranes, where the light-dependent stange of photosynethesis takes place.
What is photosynthetic pigment?
Pigment that absorbs specific wavelengths of light and traps the energy associated with the light; such as pigments include chlorophyll a and b , during the light-dependant stage of photosynthesis.
What is a photosystem?
System of photosynthetic pigments found in thlakoids or cholorplasts ; eah 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 he light-dependant stage of pjotosynthesis.
What is a stroma?
A fluid filled matrix of chloroplasts, where the light-independant stage of photosynthesis takes place.
What is a thlakoid?
Flattened membrane-bound sac found inside chlorplasts; contains photosynthetic pigments/ photosystems and is the site of the light-dependant stage of photosynthesis.
What contains chlorplasts?
Plant cells
What are the 2 distinct reigions visable on an electron micograph of a chloroplast?
- The stroma- fluid filled matrix
- The grana- consists of thylakoid membranes.
What does the structure of a chloroplast look like?
What are the 3 different membranes a chloroplast has?
- Outer menbrane
- Inner membrane
- Thylakoid membrane
What is signficant about a chloroplast having 3 different membranes?
Creates 3 seperate internal compartments- the intermembrane space, stroma, and the thylakoid space.
What are the thylakoids within granum connected to other thylakoids by?
Intergranual lamellae.
What are interganual lamelle also known as?
Intergranual thylakoids.
What is the structure of the thylakoid membrane?
The thylakoid membrane of eaach chloroplast is less permeable and is folded into flattened disk-like sacs called thylakoids that forms stacks. Each stack is called a granum. One granum may contain up to 100 thylakoids.
Why is it significant that there are many grana in every chloroplast and with many chlorplasts in each photosythetic cell?
This provides a large surface area for:
* The distribution of the photosystems that contain the photosythetic pigments that trap sunlight energy.
* The electron carriers and ATP synthase enzymes needed to convert light energy to ATP.
What do proteins embeded in the thylakoid membranes do?
They hold the photosystems in place.
What is the grana surrounded by?
The stroma
Why is it important that the grana is surrounded by the stroma?
So the products of the light-dependant stage can easily pass into the stroma to be used in the light-independant phase.
What does the stroma contain?
- Enzymes needed to catalyse the reactions of the light independant stage of photosynthesis.
- Starch grains
- Oil droplets
- Small ribosomes
- DNA
What does the loop of DNA code for in the stroma?
Codes for proteins needed for photosynthesis- these proteins are assembled at the chloroplasts ribosomes.
What are the funnel-shaped structues within thylakoid membranes called?
Photosystems.
What do photosystems contain?
photosythetic pigments.
What does photosynthetic pigments in photosystems do?
Each pigment absorbs light of a particular wavelength and reflects other wavelengths of light- each pigment appears to pour eyes, the colour of the light it is reflecting.
What happens the wavelengths of light captured by the photosynthetic pigments?
The wavelength of light captured is funnelled down to the primary pigment reaction centre, consisting of chlorophyll, at the base of the photosystem?
What are the 2 types of chlorophyll?
- Chlorophyll a
- Chlorophyll b
Wgere ccan you find both types of chlorophyll a?
Botth are situated at the centre of photostems.