Paolini Lecture Photosyntheiss ans Calvin Cycle

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the biological and physical mechanisms of photosynthesis, light properties, and chloroplast structures based on the lecture notes provided.

Cyanobacteria

The earliest type of living organism according to the fossil record that photosynthesizes and makes up the base of the food web.

Phytoplankton

Photosynthetic plankton that represent the bottom of the ocean food web.

Photon

A particle of light used to model or visualize light energy.

Wavelength

A unit of measure for light or radiation, measured from crest to crest.

Gamma radiation

Highly energetic radiation with very small wavelengths, commonly associated with nuclear power plants like Chernobyl.

UV radiation

Energetic light that can cause sunburns or cancer by destroying an organism's DNA.

Visible light

The only portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans can see with their eyes and the light harvested by land plants.

Pigment

A molecule that absorbs a specific wavelength of light.

Chlorophyll a and b

Primary pigments in land plants that absorb mostly purple, blue, orange, and red light while reflecting green.

Carotenoids

A class of pigments related to beta carotene that reflect yellowish-orangish light.

Stomata

Pores or openings in terrestrial plants that allow for gas exchange, specifically letting $CO_2$ in and moisture or $O_2$ out.

Chloroplast

The organelle where photosynthesis occurs, featuring an outer membrane, an inner membrane, and internal stacks of thylakoids.

Stroma

The cytoplasm solution within the inner membrane of the chloroplast that is analogous to the mitochondrial matrix.

Granum

A stack of individual thylakoids within the chloroplast.

Thylakoid

Individual disk-like structures where the thylakoid membrane contains photosynthetic pigments.

Thylakoid lumen

The interior side of the solution or space inside the thylakoid.

NADPH

An electron carrier molecule in photosynthesis that temporarily stores electrons and energy; the 'p' can be used as a mnemonic for plants or photosynthesis.

Photosystems

Proteins embedded in the thylakoid membrane containing antenna pigments, a reaction center, and an electron acceptor.

Antenna pigments

Pigments that act like an antenna by collecting light energy from the sun and channeling it to the reaction center.

Photosystem II

The first photosystem used in the light reactions which energizes electrons by stealing them from water molecules, resulting in the release of $O_2$ gas.

Photosystem I

The photosystem that re-energizes electrons to produce NADPH for use in the Calvin cycle.

Calvin cycle

The second main step of photosynthesis that occurs in the stroma and uses ATP and NADPH to convert $CO_2$ into sugar.

Rubisco

The enzyme that captures or 'fixes' $CO_2$ gas from the atmosphere at the start of the Calvin cycle.

RuBP

The five-carbon molecule that bonds with $CO_2$ at the beginning of the Calvin cycle.

G3P (Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate)

A three-carbon molecule produced by the Calvin cycle; two of these molecules are required to create one glucose.