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The biochemical capacity to use water as the source for electrons in photosynthesis evolved once, in a common ancestor of extant cyanobacteria (formerly called blue-green algae). The geological record indicates that this transforming event took place early in Earth's history, at least 2450–2320 million years ago (Ma), and, it is speculated ...
The water-splitting reaction occurs on the lumenal side of the thylakoid membrane and is driven by the light energy captured by the photosystems. This oxidation of water conveniently produces the waste product O 2 that is vital for cellular respiration. The molecular oxygen formed by the reaction is released into the atmosphere.
The electron transport chain of photosynthesis is often put in a diagram called the Z-scheme, because the redox diagram from P680 to P700 resembles the letter Z. [3] The final product of PSII is plastoquinol, a mobile electron carrier in the membrane. Plastoquinol transfers the electron from PSII to the proton pump, cytochrome b6f. The ultimate ...
Photosystem II (or water-plastoquinone oxidoreductase) is the first protein complex in the light-dependent reactions of oxygenic photosynthesis. It is located in the thylakoid membrane of plants , algae , and cyanobacteria .
Efficient and economical water splitting would be a technological breakthrough that could underpin a hydrogen economy. A version of water splitting occurs in photosynthesis, but hydrogen is not produced. The reverse of water splitting is the basis of the hydrogen fuel cell. Water splitting using solar radiation has not been commercialized.
In the reaction center of PSII of plants and cyanobacteria, the light energy is used to split water into oxygen, protons, and electrons. The protons will be used in proton pumping to fuel the ATP synthase at the end of an electron transport chain. A majority of the reactions occur at the D1 and D2 subunits of PSII.
The process of water-splitting is a highly endothermic process (ΔH > 0). Water splitting occurs naturally in photosynthesis when the energy of four photons is absorbed and converted into chemical energy through a complex biochemical pathway (Dolai's or Kok's S-state diagrams). [3] O–H bond homolysis in water requires energy of 6.5 - 6.9 eV ...
This process of reducing quinone is comparable to that which takes place in the bacterial reaction center. Photosystem II obtains electrons by oxidizing water in a process called photolysis. Molecular oxygen is a byproduct of this process, and it is this reaction that supplies the atmosphere with oxygen.