Cell Energy Flashcards
Autotroph
An organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide.
Light Reactions
The reaction which occurs as the first phase of photosynthesis, in which energy in the form of light is absorbed and converted to chemical energy in the form of ATP.
Chlorophyll
A green pigment, present in all green plants and in cyanobacteria, responsible for the absorption of light to provide energy for photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water.
Calvin Cycle
The cycle of enzyme-catalyzed dark reactions of photosynthesis that occurs in the chloroplasts of plants and in many bacteria.
Electron Transport Chain
A collection of proteins bound to the inner mitochondrial membrane and organic molecules, which electrons pass through in a series of redox reactions, and release energy.
NADPH
A product of the first level of photosynthesis. It helps to fuel the reactions that occur in the second stage of the process of photosynthesis.
Pigment
Photosynthetic pigments are the molecules responsible for absorbing electromagnetic radiation, transferring the energy of the absorbed photons to the reaction center, and for photo chemical conversion in the photosynthetic systems of organisms capable of photosynthesis.
Granum
A granum is a coin-shaped stack of thylakoids, which are the membrane-like structures found inside the chloroplasts of plant cells.
Stomata
A pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange between the internal air spaces of the leaf and the atmosphere.
Carbon Fixation
The process by which inorganic carbon is converted to organic compounds by living organisms.
Heterotrophs
A heterotroph is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter.
Thykaloid
Thylakoids are membrane-bound compartments inside chloroplasts and cyanobacteria. They are the site of the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis.
Carotenoids
Carotenoids are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi.
Mitochondrial Matrix
The matrix is a gel-like material in the mitochondrion, or organelle that performs the process of aerobic respiration, that contains ribosomes resembling those of bacteria.
