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One of the main functions of the chloroplast is its role in photosynthesis, the process by which light is transformed into chemical energy, to subsequently produce food in the form of sugars. Water (H 2 O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2) are used in photosynthesis, and sugar and oxygen (O 2) are made, using light energy.
Schematic of photosynthesis in plants. The carbohydrates produced are stored in or used by the plant. Composite image showing the global distribution of photosynthesis, including both oceanic phytoplankton and terrestrial vegetation. Dark red and blue-green indicate regions of high photosynthetic activity in the ocean and on land, respectively.
Like plants, the cyanobacteria use water as an electron donor for photosynthesis and therefore liberate oxygen; they also use chlorophyll as a pigment.In addition, most cyanobacteria use phycobiliproteins, water-soluble pigments which occur in the cytoplasm of the chloroplast, to capture light energy and pass it on to the chlorophylls.
The photosynthesis process in chloroplasts begins when an electron of P680 of PSII attains a higher-energy level. This energy is used to reduce a chain of electron acceptors that have subsequently higher redox potentials. This chain of electron acceptors is known as an electron transport chain.
Oxygenic photosynthesis can be performed by plants and cyanobacteria; cyanobacteria are believed to be the progenitors of the photosystem-containing chloroplasts of eukaryotes. Photosynthetic bacteria that cannot produce oxygen have only one photosystem, which is similar to either PSI or PSII .
Photosynthesis is the only process that allows the conversion of atmospheric carbon (CO2) to organic (solid) carbon, and this process plays an essential role in climate models. This lead researchers to study the sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (i.e., chlorophyll fluorescence that uses the Sun as illumination source; the glow of a plant) as ...
The plastid of photosynthetic Paulinella species is often referred to as the 'cyanelle' or chromatophore, and is used in photosynthesis. [ 17 ] [ 18 ] It had a much more recent endosymbiotic event, in the range of 140–90 million years ago, which is the only other known primary endosymbiosis event of cyanobacteria.
Electron micrograph of a 2D crystal of the LH1-Reaction center photosynthetic unit. A photosynthetic reaction center is a complex of several proteins, biological pigments, and other co-factors that together execute the primary energy conversion reactions of photosynthesis.