Unit 2B Flashcards
(27 cards)
What is photosynthesis?
The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria convert light energy, carbon dioxide, and water into glucose and oxygen, using sunlight and pigments like chlorophyll.
What is ATP?
The primary energy carrier in cells, produced during the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis and used during the Calvin cycle to synthesize glucose.
What is ADP?
The product of ATP after it has lost a phosphate group. ADP can be converted back to ATP during the light-dependent reactions.
What are chloroplasts?
Organelles in plant cells where photosynthesis occurs. They contain pigments, enzymes, and other molecules essential for the photosynthesis process.
What is a granum?
Stacks of thylakoid membranes found inside chloroplasts, where the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis take place.
What is the lumen?
The internal space of the thylakoid membranes where protons (H⁺) accumulate during the light-dependent reactions.
What is the stroma?
The fluid-filled space surrounding the thylakoid membranes in chloroplasts, where the Calvin cycle (light-independent reactions) occurs.
What is a thylakoid?
Membrane-bound compartments inside the chloroplast that contain photosynthetic pigments, such as chlorophyll.
What is the outer membrane of a chloroplast?
The outermost lipid bilayer membrane surrounding the chloroplast, which is semi-permeable.
What is the inner membrane of a chloroplast?
The membrane just inside the outer membrane, which is more selective and regulates transport into and out of the stroma.
What is a heterotroph?
Organisms that cannot produce their own food and must consume other organisms (e.g., animals, fungi).
What is an autotroph?
Organisms that can produce their own food using sunlight or inorganic compounds (e.g., plants, algae).
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
The range of all types of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, etc.
What is the difference between wavelength and frequency?
Wavelength refers to the distance between consecutive peaks of a wave, while frequency refers to the number of waves passing a point in a given period.
What is a pigment?
Molecules that absorb light at specific wavelengths. Chlorophyll is the primary pigment involved in photosynthesis.
What is the light-dependent reaction?
The first stage of photosynthesis, occurring in the thylakoid membranes, where light energy is used to produce ATP and NADPH and split water molecules to release oxygen.
What is the Calvin Cycle?
The second stage of photosynthesis that occurs in the stroma, using ATP and NADPH produced during the light-dependent reactions to fix carbon dioxide into organic molecules like glucose.
What is NADP?
A molecule that acts as an electron carrier in photosynthesis, becoming NADPH after gaining electrons and hydrogen.
What is NADPH?
The reduced form of NADP, carrying electrons and hydrogen ions to be used in the Calvin cycle for the synthesis of glucose.
What is RuBP?
A five-carbon molecule involved in the Calvin cycle that reacts with carbon dioxide, catalyzed by the enzyme RuBisCO.
What is PGA?
A three-carbon molecule produced when RuBP reacts with carbon dioxide in the Calvin cycle.
What is G3P?
A three-carbon sugar molecule produced in the Calvin cycle that can be used to form glucose.
What is Rubisco?
The enzyme that catalyzes the first step of the Calvin cycle, the fixation of carbon dioxide to RuBP.
What is a CAM plant?
A type of plant that opens its stomata at night to reduce water loss, fixing carbon dioxide into organic acids that are stored and used during the day for photosynthesis.
