Chapter 10 Flashcards
What is photosynthesis?
conversion of sunlight to chemical energy in sugars and other organic molecules
How did photosynthesis originate?
Originates in a group of bacteria that had infolded regions of the plasma membrane
What are autotrophs? (2)
AKA producers produce their organic molecules from CO2
sustain themselves without eating anything derived from other living beings
what are photoautotrophs?
organisms that use light to synthesize organic substances
what are heterotrophs? (2)
aka consumers, includes decomposers
obtain organic material through compounds produced by other animals
what is the endosymbiont theory for chloroplast?
original chloroplast was a photosynthetic prokaryote that lived inside an ancestor of eukaryotes
where does photosynthesis take place?
in the mesophyll
What is mesophyll? (3)
tissue of the interior leaf
where chloroplasts are found
30-40 chloroplasts between 2-4 um by 4-7 um
what is the stomata? (2)
microscopic pores in leaves
where CO2 enters and O2 leaves
what is the stroma?
a dense fluid surrounding the envelope of two membranes in a chloroplasts
what are thylakoids?
sacs that segregate the stroma from the thylakoid space in the stroma
what is granum?
stacks of thylakoids
what is chlorophyll? (2)
green pigment in the thylakoid
absorbs light energy
how does photosynthesis work? (3)
plants produce organic compounds and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of light
produces a three C sugar used to make glucose
chloroplast splits water into oxygen and excess water, while CO2 is used to form sugar
Photosynthesis vs Cellular Respiration (4)
both are redox
photosynthesis reverses direction of electron flow
splits water, and electrons are transferred with H+ to reduce sugar
photosynthesis is endergonic, requiring energy in the form of light
what are the stages of photosynthesis?
Light reaction and Calvin cycle
What is the light reaction? (2)
steps that convert solar energy to chemical energy
occurs in the thylakoids
What occurs during the light reaction? (4)
Water is split
O2 is given off as a by-product
light drives e- and H+ to an acceptor called NADP+
generated ATP using chemiosmosis
What occurs during the calvin cycle? (4)
synthesis of sugar
occurs in the stroma
incorperates CO2 from the air into organic molecules in the chloroplast (carbon fixation)
reduces fixed carbon using NADPH to carbohydrates by adding electrons using ATP
what is electromagnetic energy?
energy traveling in waves
What are wavelengths?
distance between crests of electromagnetic waves