Autotrophic organisms use the pigment chlorophyll to harvest solar energy to produce the stored energy
as chemical bonds of ATP and carbohydrates. In eukaryotes, chlorophyll is associated with thylakoid
membranes of the chloroplast. Photosynthesis in eukaryotes involves three essential processes:
1. Energy absorption from sunlight via pigments during light-dependent reaction
2. Reactivation of reaction center
3. Carbohydrates production by carbon fixation during light-independent reaction.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE: Definition of Terms
1. Light reactions
2. Noncyclic electron flow
3. Cyclic electron flow
4. Plastoquinone (Pq)
5. Plastocyanin (Pc)
6. ATP
7. Photophosphorylation
8. Ferredoxin
9. NADP+
10. NADPH
11. Chemiosmosis
TWO Stages of Photosynthesis
• Light reactions—use sunlight to initiate electron transfer, thereby reducing NADP+ to NADPH and
splitting water to give off oxygen as a by-product.
• form ATP through phosphorylation
• take place in the thylakoids of the chloroplast
• Calvin Cycle—sometimes referred to as ‘light-independent reactions’ because it does not require light
energy for its processes to take place
• incorporates CO2 into organic molecules through carbon fixation
• uses NADPH and ATP to produce carbohydrate from the fixed carbon
• takes place in the stroma of chloroplast
• returns ADP, inorganic phosphate, and NADP+ to the light reactions
Both occur with Chloroplast.
Light Reaction - Thylakoid Membrane
Calvin Cycle - Stroma
Light Reactions Events
1. Light energy or photon is absorbed by a pigment molecule of the light-harvesting complex of
Photosystem II and is passed on to other pigment molecules nearby until the energy makes it to the
reaction center. In the reaction center, it is absorbed by the P680 pair of chlorophyll a.
2. The electron in this pair of chlorophyll a is raised to an excited state and is transferred to the primary
electron acceptor. P680 loses its electron and becomes positively charged (P680+).
3. The positively charged molecule attracts electrons from a water molecule, resulting to the splitting up
of H20 into two electrons, two hydrogen ions (H+), and an oxygen atom with the provision of light
energy. The oxygen atom immediately combines with another oxygen atom to form an oxygen molecule
(O2) which is then released outside the leaf through the stomata.
4. The excited electrons are then passed on from the primary electron acceptor to the electron carrier
molecules through the electron transport chain until they reach Photosystem I. The electron carrier
molecules involved here are plastoquinone (Pq), a cytochrome complex, and plastocyanin (Pc).
5. At each transfer, the electrons release small amounts of energy. This energy is used to pump hydrogen
ions across the membrane. The splitting up of water molecules results to an uneven distribution of
hydrogen ions in the stroma and the lumen. The H+ ions tries to equalize their distribution by moving
from the lumen to the stroma through the aid of a membrane protein called ATP synthase. This is referred
to as chemiosmosis. The movement of hydrogen ions through the ATP synthase channel triggers the
synthesis of ATP from ADP. The ATP contains high-energy phosphate bonds.
6. Meanwhile, photon is also absorbed and energy is passed on from one pigment molecule to another
until the energy reaches the reaction center complex of Photosystem I. The energy excites the electron
present in the pair of P700 chlorophyll a located here. The excited electron is then transferred to a primary
electron acceptor, making the P700 positively charged and now seeking electrons to fill up the missing
ones. This is filled up by the electrons from Photosystem II that are passed on through the electron
transport chain.
7. The photo-excited electron from the primary electron acceptor of Photosystem I enters another electron
transfer chain, passing the electron to an iron-containing protein called ferredoxin (Fd).
8. An enzyme, the NADP+ reductase, then transfers the electron to NADP+ and stabilizes it by adding a
proton (H+) to form NADPH. NADPH is then released to the stroma and becomes part of the Calvin
Cycle.
Cyclic Electron Flow
Aside from the usual route of electron flow as described in the events of the light reactions (i.e., noncyclic
or linear electron flow), photo-excited electrons may take a short-circuited route that utilizes Photosystem
I but not Photosystem II. The ferrodoxin goes back to the cycle and passes the electron to the cytochrome
complex and to the Pc until it reaches P700 chlorophyll instead of transferring the electron to
NADP+reductase. Due to this event, no NADPH is produced but ATP is still synthesized.
Calvin cycle
• also referred to as light-independent reactions
• takes place in the stroma of the chloroplast
• second stage of photosynthesis that is involved in the formation of sugar from CO2 using chemical
energy stored in ATP and NADPH, the products of light reactions
Important points to know:
• The sugar that is produced in the Calvin Cycle is not the six-carbon glucose that we are familiar with.
This is formed later on. What is produced in the Calvin Cycle is a three-carbon sugar known as G3P or
glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.
• The Calvin Cycle needs to ‘spin’ three times to make one molecule of G3P from three molecules of
CO2.
Three Phases of Calvin Cycle
1. Carbon Fixation
• Carbon fixation is a process of incorporating an inorganic carbon molecule, CO2, into an organic
material.
• In this phase, the CO2 molecule is attached to a five-carbon sugar molecule named ribulose biphosphate
(RuBP) aided by an enzyme named rubisco or RuBP carboxylase. Rubisco is believed to be the most
abundant protein in the chloroplast and maybe on Earth.
• The resulting product, a six-carbon sugar, is extremely unstable and immediately splits in half. The split
forms two molecules of a 3-phosphoglycerate (3-carbon).
2. Reduction
• A phosphate group (from ATP) is then attached to each 3-phosphoglycerate by an enzyme, forming 1,3-
phosphoglycerate.
• NADPH swoops in and reduces 1,3-biphosphogycerate to G3P.
• For every six G3Ps produced by the Calvin Cycle, five are recycled to regenerate three molecules of
RuBP. Only one G3P leaves the cycle to be packaged for use by the cell.
• It will take two molecules of G3P to make one molecule of glucose.
• The ADP and NADP+ that is formed during the Calvin Cycle will be transported back to the thylakoid
membrane and will enter the light reactions. Here, they will be ‘recharged’ with energy and become ATP
and NADPH.
3. Regeneration of RuBP
• Five molecules of G3P undergo a series of complex enzymatic reactions to form three molecules of
RuBP. This costs the cell another three molecules of ATP, but also provides another set of RuBP to
continue the cycle.
What happens to G3P after its release from the cycle?
• Two G3Ps can combine together to form either glucose or fructose which are both are six-carbon sugar.
• Glucose and fructose can be combined to form sucrose.
• Glucose can be connected in chains to form starch.
• G3Ps can also be used in lipid and protein synthesis.
The cost of making carbohydrate:
To make one molecule of G3P, the chloroplast needs:
• 3 molecules of CO2
• 9 molecules of ATP
• 6 molecules of NADPH
