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Chpt 6 Photosynthesi
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| autotroph | an organism that produces its own nutrients from inorganic substances or from the environment instead of consuming other organisms |
| photosynthesis | the process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen |
| heterotroph | an organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms or their byproducts and that cannot synthesize organnic compounds from inorganic materials |
| light reactions | the initial reactions in photosynthesis, triggered by absorption of light by photosystems II and I: include the passage of electrons along an electron transport chain , the production of NADPH and oxygen gas, and the synthesis of ATP through chemiosmosis |
| chloroplast | an organelle found in plant and algae cells where photosynthesis occurs |
| thylakoid | a membrane bound system found within the chloroplast that contains the components for photosynthesis; where the light reactions take place |
| granum | a stack of thylakoids in a chloroplast |
| stroma | in plants, the solution that surrounds the thylakoids in a chloroplast |
| pigment | a substance that gives another substance or a mixture its color |
| chlorophyll | a green pigment that is found in most plant cells, responsible for green color, reacts with sunlight and water in the start of photosynthesis |
| carotenoid | a class of pigments present in the thylakoid membrane of plants that aid in photosynthesis |
| photosystem | in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts, a cluster of chlorophyll and other pigment molecules that harvest light energy for the light reactions of photosynthesis |
| primary electron acceptor | in chloroplasts, an acceptor of electrons lost from chlorophyll a, found in the thylakoid membrane |
| electron transport chain | a series of molecules found in the inner membranes of mitochondria and chloroplasts, through which electrons pass in a process that causes protons to build up on one side of the membrane |
| chemiosmosis | in chloroplasts and mitochondria, a process in which the movement of protons down their concentration gradient across a membrane is coupled to the synthesis of ATP |
| Calvin cycle | a biochemical pathway of photosynthesis in which carbon dioxide is converted into glucose using ATP |
| carbon fixation | the synthesis of organic compounds from carbon dioxide such as in photosynthesis |
| stomata | openings in a leaf or stem of a plant that enable gas exchange to occur |
| C4 pathway | a carbon fixing process in which carbon dioxide is bound to a compound to forma four carbon intermediate |
| CAM pathway | a water-conserving, carbon fixing process; CAM plants take in carbon at night and fix it to various organic compounds a release it during the day |