Information AboutChlorophyll |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CHLOROPHYLL | |
| tetrapyrroles | |
| photosynthetic pigments | |
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Chlorophyll is a green and ''phyllon'' = Leaf . Chlorophyll absorbs mostly in the blue and to a lesser extent red portions of the Electromagnetic Spectrum , hence its intense green color. CHLOROPHYLL AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS In plant Photosynthesis , incoming light is absorbed by chlorophyll and other accessory pigments in the Antenna Complex es of Photosystem I and Photosystem II . The antenna pigments are predominantly chlorophyll ''a'', '''chlorophyll ''b''''' and Carotenoid s; their Absorption Spectra are non-overlapping, this serves to broaden the specific bandwidths of light these individual compounds absorb during the process of photosynthesis. The carotenoids also play a role as Antioxidant s, and serve to reduce photo-oxidative damage to chlorophyll molecules. Each antenna complex has between 250 and 400 pigment molecules, and the energy they absorb is shuttled by Resonance Energy Transfer to a specialized chlorophyll ''a'' at the reaction center of each Photosystem . When either of the two chorophyll ''a'' molecules at the Reaction Center absorb energy, an electron is excited and transferred to an electron-acceptor molecule, leaving an electron hole in the donor chlorophyll. In a poorly-understood reaction, electrons from water molecules participate in an Oxidation reaction, where the hole from the donor chlorophyll is filled (recombined with another electron), and diatomic oxygen is produced. Resulting chemical energy originating from the initial excited electron is eventually captured in the form of ATP and NADPH , and is then ultimately used to convert Carbon Dioxide (2) to Carbohydrate s. This CO2 fixation process results in the Conversion (or an integrated external Quantum Efficiency ) of 3% to 6% of the total incident solar radiation, with a theoretical maximum efficiency of 11%. {Link without Title} SPECIAL PAIR The photosystem reaction centers consist of a "special pair" of chlorophyll ''a'' molecules that are characterised by their specific absorption maximum. The special pair in photosystem I are designated P700, and those from photosystem II are designated '''P680'''. The P is short for pigment, and the number is the specific Absorption Peak in Nanometers for the chlorophyll molecules in each reaction center. Chlorophyll ''a'' is common to all eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms, and, due to its central role in the reaction center, is essential for photosynthesis. The accessory pigments such as chlorophyll ''b'' and carotenoids are not essential. Some Algae , such as brown algae and diatoms, use chlorophyll ''c'' as a substitute for chlorophyll ''b''. Historically, red algae have been assumed to have '''chlorophyll ''d''''', although it could not be isolated from all species and even different collections of the same species. This puzzle has recently been resolved, since the chlorophyll ''d'' is actually from an Epiphytic Cyanobacterium (''Acaryochloris marina'') that lives on the red algae. These cyanobacteria have a ratio of chlorophyll ''d'': chlorophyll ''a'' of approximately 30:1, and represent a rare example of a photosystem with chlorophyll ''d'' at the reaction center of the photosystem. All other known eukaryotes and cyanobacteria use chlorophyll ''a''. There are likely to be many chlorophyll-d containing organisms awaiting discovery, for example a free living form was recently found in the Salton Sea (a salt lake in USA). Other chemical variations of chlorophyll are found in photosynthetic bacteria, other than cyanobacteria. Purple bacteria use Bacteriochlorophyll , which absorbs Infrared light between 800nm - 1000nm, and the green sulphur bacteria '''chlorobium chlorophyll'''. All known bacteria with bacteriochlorophyll have a form of photosynthesis which does not involve evolution of oxygen and so are called anoxyphotobacteria. There is a very large number of different bacteriochlorophylls in different anoxyphotobacteria including one species which contains Zinc, rather than the usual Magnesium as the co-ordinated metal. CHEMICAL STRUCTURE
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