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Photosynthesis Process in Plants

Photosynthesis is the conversion of light energy into chemical energy by living organisms. The raw materials are carbon dioxide and water, the energy source is sunlight, and the end-products include glucose and oxygen. It is arguably the most important biochemical pathway, since nearly all life depends on it. It is a complex process occurring in higher plants, phytoplankton, algae, as well as bacteria such as cyanobacteria. Photosynthetic organisms are also referred to as photoautotroph.
We can write the overall reaction of this process as:

6H2O + 6CO2 -> C6H12O6 + 6O2

Most of us don’t speak chemicalese, so the above chemical equation translates as: six molecules of water plus six molecules of carbon dioxide produce one molecule of sugar plus six molecules of oxygen.

Photosynthesis occurs in two stages. In the first phase light-dependent reactions or photosynthetic reactions (also called the Light reactions) capture the energy of light and use it to make high-energy molecules. During the second phase, the light-independent reactions (also called the Calvin-Benson Cycle, and formerly known as the Dark Reactions) use the high-energy molecules to capture carbon dioxide CO2 and make the precursors of carbohydrates.

In the light reactions one molecule of the pigment chlorophyll absorbs one photon and loses one electron. This electron is passed to a modified form of chlorophyll called pheophytin, which passes the electron to a quinone molecule, allowing the start of a flow of electrons down an electron transport chain that leads to the ultimate reduction of NADP into NADPH. In addition, it serves to create a proton gradient across the chloroplast membrane; its dissipation is used by ATP Synthase for the concomitant synthesis of ATP. The chlorophyll molecule regains the lost electron by taking one from a water molecule through a process called photolysis that releases oxygen gas as a waste product. In the Light-independent or dark reactions the enzyme RuBisCO captures CO2 from the atmosphere and in a process that requires the newly formed NADPH, called the Calvin-Benson cycle releases three-carbon sugars which are later combined to form sucrose and starch.