PHOTOSYNTHESIS: (PHOTOAUTOTROPHY ) Organisms called photoautotrophs carry out photosynthesis, The capture of energy from light and the

use of this energy to manufacture carbohydrates from carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis occurs in green and purple bacteria, in cyanobacteria, in algae, and in higher plants. Photosynthetic bacteria, which probably evolved early in the evolution of living organisms, perform their own version of photosynthesis in the absence of O2. However,algae and green plants make much more of the worlds carbohydrate supply, so we will consider the process in those organisms first and then see how it differs in green and purple bacteria. In green plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, photosynthesis occurs in two partsthe photo part, or the light reactions, in which light energy is converted to chemical energy, and the synthesis part, or the dark reactions, in which chemical energy is used to make organic molecules. Each part involves a series of steps. Light reaction: In the light-dependent (light) reactions, light strikes the green pigment chlorophyll a in thylakoids of chloroplasts. Electrons in the chlorophyll become excitedthat is, raised to a higher energy level. These electrons participate in generating ATP in cyclic photophosphorylation and in noncyclic photoreduction

In cyclic photophosphorylation, excited electrons from chlorophyll are passed down an electron transport chain. As they are transferred, energy is captured in ATP by chemiosmosis. When the electrons return to the chlorophyll, they can be excited over and over again, so the process is said to be cyclic.

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In noncyclic photoreduction, energy is also captured by chemiosmosis. In addition, membrane proteins and energy from light are used to split water molecules into protons, electrons, and oxygen molecules, a process called photolysis. The electrons replace those lost from chlorophyll, which are thus freed to reduce the coenzyme NADP. ATP and reduced NADP (NADPH)the products of the light reactionand atmosphericCO2 subsequently participate in the dark reactions. Example: Cyanobacteria

Dark reaction or carbon fixation: The light-independent (dark) reactions, or carbon fixation, occur in the stroma of chloroplasts. Carbon dioxide is reduced by electrons from NADPH in a process known as the Calvin-Benson cycle . Energy from ATP and electrons from NADPH are required in this synthetic process. Various carbohydrates, chiefly glucose, are the products of the dark reactions.

Photosynthesis in green and purple sulfur bacteria differs from that in green plants, algae, and cyanobacteria in ways related to the evolution of organisms. The first photosynthetic organisms probably were purple and green bacteria, which evolved in an atmosphere containing much hydrogen but no oxygen. They differ from green plants, algae, and cyanobacteria as follows: 1. Bacterial chlorophyll absorbs slightly longer wavelengths of light than does chlorophyll a. 2. They use hydrogen compounds such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S), rather than water (H2O), for reducing carbon dioxide. Electrons from their pigments reach an energy level high enough to split H2S (but not high enough to split H2O) and to generate an H1 gradient for ATP synthesis. (Some purple and green bacteria produce elemental sulfur as a byproduct;a few produce strong sulfuric acid.) 3. They are usually strict anaerobes and can live only in the absence of oxygen. They do not release oxygen as a product of photosynthesis, as green plants do.