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Photosynthesis (/ ˌ f oʊ t ə ˈ s ɪ n θ ə s ɪ s / FOH-tə-SINTH-ə-sis) [1] is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabolism.
In the dark, plants instead release sucrose into the phloem from their starch reserves to provide energy for the plant. The Calvin cycle thus happens when light is available independent of the kind of photosynthesis (C3 carbon fixation, C4 carbon fixation, and crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)); CAM plants store malic acid in their vacuoles ...
In actuality, however, plants do not absorb all incoming sunlight (due to reflection, respiration requirements of photosynthesis and the need for optimal solar radiation levels) and do not convert all harvested energy into biomass, which results in a maximum overall photosynthetic efficiency of 3 to 6% of total solar radiation. [1]
Plants can only use a fraction (approximately 1%) of this energy for photosynthesis. [11] The process of photosynthesis splits a water molecule (H 2 O), releasing oxygen (O 2) into the atmosphere, and reducing carbon dioxide (CO 2) to release the hydrogen atoms that fuel the metabolic process of primary production.
However, photosynthesis is a quantum process and the chemical reactions of photosynthesis are more dependent on the number of photons than the energy contained in the photons. Therefore, plant biologists often quantify PAR using the number of photons in the 400-700 nm range received by a surface for a specified amount of time, or the ...
C 3 photosynthesis is the oldest and most common form. A C3 plant uses the Calvin cycle for the initial steps that incorporate CO 2 into organic material. A C4 plant prefaces the Calvin cycle with reactions that incorporate CO 2 into four-carbon compounds. A CAM plant uses crassulacean acid metabolism, an adaptation for photosynthesis in arid ...
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 .
The first ideas about light being used in photosynthesis were proposed by Jan IngenHousz in 1779 [9] who recognized it was sunlight falling on plants that was required, although Joseph Priestley had noted the production of oxygen without the association with light in 1772. [10]
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