Q.What are the important events and end products of Light Reaction ? OR Describe Chemiosmotic Production of ATP.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The light reaction occurs in the thylakoid membrane: light-excited Photosystems II and I split water (releasing O2) and transport electrons through a chain that pumps protons to build a gradient used by ATP synthase; the end products are ATP, NADPH, and O2.
Step 1 — Light absorption. Chlorophylls and accessory pigments, organised into Photosystem II (reaction centre P680) and Photosystem I (reaction centre P700), absorb light energy and funnel it to their respective reaction-centre chlorophyll a molecules, which become excited and lose electrons.
Step 2 — Splitting of water (photolysis) at PS II. To replace the electrons lost from P680, water molecules are split: 2H2O → 4H+ + O2 + 4e-. This is the source of the O2 released during photosynthesis (proved by Robert Hill, hence also called the Hill reaction), and it also contributes protons to the thylakoid lumen.
Step 3 — Electron transport chain. The excited electrons from PS II pass through a chain of carriers (plastoquinone, cytochrome b6f complex, plastocyanin) to PS I. As electrons move through the cytochrome complex, protons (H+) are actively pumped from the stroma into the thylakoid lumen, building up a proton gradient (this is also central to chemiosmotic ATP production, described below).
Step 4 — Re-excitation at PS I and NADPH formation. Light re-excites the electrons at PS I (P700); these high-energy electrons are passed via ferredoxin to the enzyme NADP+ reductase, which reduces NADP+ to NADPH (using a proton from the stroma).
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