Enzymes and Photosynthesis

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to enzymes and photosynthesis.

Enzyme

A biological catalyst that speeds up reactions by lowering the activation energy without being used up.

Activation Energy

The energy needed to break the bonds of substrates to be changed into products.

Endergonic Reaction

A reaction that requires energy to occur; products have more energy than reactants.

Exergonic Reaction

A reaction that releases energy; products have less energy than reactants.

ATP

A molecule that stores and provides energy for cellular processes by splitting off a phosphate group.

Cofactors

Inorganic substances that assist enzymes in the catalysis of reactions.

Coenzymes

Organic molecules that assist enzymes, often acting as carriers for chemical groups.

Competitive Inhibition

When an inhibitor binds to the active site of an enzyme, blocking the substrate from binding.

Allosteric Inhibition

When an inhibitor binds to an allosteric site, altering the enzyme's active site and preventing substrate binding. and also changed the shape of enzyme/active site

Feedback Inhibition

A self-regulating process in which the end product of a reaction inhibits an earlier step in the pathway.

Photosystem II

Protein complex in the thylakoid membranes that captures light energy for the light-dependent reactions.

Calvin Cycle

The light-independent reactions in photosynthesis that convert ATP and NADPH into glucose.

RuBisCo

attaches 5 carbon molecule and 1 carbon molecule together and immediately breaks them into two 3-carbon molecules

G3P

A 3-carbon molecule produced in the Calvin cycle that can be used to form glucose and other carbohydrates.

Chemiosmosis

The process of using a proton gradient to generate ATP during cellular respiration and photosynthesis.It involves the movement of protons across a membrane through ATP synthase.

Krebs Cycle

A series of enzymatic reactions that oxidizes carbohydrates to carbon dioxide in cellular respiration.