Science 1 flash cards
Autotroph
an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide.
Light Reactions
the reaction of something, especially the iris of the eye, to different intensities of light.
Chlorophyll
a green pigment, present in all green plants and in cyanobacteria, responsible for the absorption of light to provide energy for photosynthesis. Its molecule contains a magnesium atom held in a porphyrin ring.
Photosynthesis
the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.
Calvin cycle
the cycle of chemical reactions where the carbon from the carbon cycle is fixed into sugars
Electron Transport Chain
a series of four protein complexes that couple redox reactions, creating an electrochemical gradient that leads to the creation of ATP in a complete system named oxidative phosphorylation
NADPH
an important electron donor found in all living organisms.
Pigment
the natural coloring matter of animal or plant tissue.
Granum
a coin-shaped stack of thylakoids, which are the membrane-like structures found inside the chloroplasts of plant cells.
Stomata
any of the minute pores in the epidermis of the leaf or stem of a plant, forming a slit of variable width which allows movement of gases in and out of the intercellular spaces.
Carbon Fixation
conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic molecules by autotrophic organisms.
Heterotrophs
organisms that consume other organisms for energy.
Thylakoids
internal photosynthetic membrane systems of chloroplasts
Carotenoids
pigments in plants, algae, and photosynthetic bacteria.
Mitochondrial matrix
large variety of enzymes, including those that convert pyruvate and fatty acids to acetyl CoA and those that oxidize this acetyl CoA to CO2through the citric acid cycle.
