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| Organism that makes its own food using carbon from inorganic molecules such as CO2, and energy from light or chemical reactions. |
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| Type of plant that uses only the Calvin–Benson cycle to fix carbon. |
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| Type of plant that minimizes photorespiration by fixing carbon twice, using a C4 pathway in addition to the Calvin–Benson cycle. |
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| Light-independent reactions of photosynthesis; cyclic pathway that forms glucose from CO2. |
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| Type of C4 plant that conserves water by opening stomata only at night, when it fixes carbon by a C4 pathway. |
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| Process by which carbon from an inorganic source such as CO2 is incorporated into an organic compound. Occurs in the light-independent reactions of photosynthesis. |
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| Organism that makes its own food using carbon from inorganic sources such as carbon dioxide, and energy from chemical reactions. |
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| Main photosynthetic pigment in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. |
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| Organelle of photosynthesis in plants and some protists. Two outer membranes enclose a semifluid stroma. A third membrane forms a compartment that functions in ATP and NADPH formation; sugars form in the stroma. |
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| Organism that obtains carbon from organic compounds assembled by other organisms. |
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| light-dependent reactions |
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| First stage of photosynthesis; one of two metabolic pathways (cyclic or noncyclic) in which light energy is converted to the chemical energy of ATP. NADPH and O2 also form in the noncyclic pathway. |
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| light-independent reactions |
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| Second stage of photosynthesis; metabolic pathway in which the enzyme rubisco fixes carbon, and glucose forms. Runs on ATP and NADPH produced in the light-dependent reactions. See also Calvin–Benson cycle. |
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| Photosynthetic autotroph; e.g., nearly all plants, most algae, and a few bacteria. |
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| Reaction in which light energy breaks down a molecule. Photolysis of water molecules during noncyclic photosynthesis releases electrons and hydrogen ions used in the reactions, and molecular oxygen. |
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| Any light-driven phosphorylation reaction. |
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| Reaction in which rubisco attaches oxygen instead of carbon dioxide to ribulose bisphosphate; occurs in C4 plants when stomata close and oxygen levels rise. Produces no ATP |
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| The metabolic pathway by which photoautotrophs capture light energy and use it to make sugars from CO2 and water. |
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| In photosynthetic cells, a cluster of pigments and proteins that, as a unit, converts light energy to chemical energy in photosynthesis. |
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| An organic molecule that absorbs light of certain wavelengths. Reflected light imparts a characteristic color. |
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| Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase, or RuBP. Carbon-fixing enzyme of light-independent photosynthesis reactions |
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| Gap that opens between two guard cells; lets water vapor and gases diffuse across the epidermis of a leaf or primary stem |
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| The semifluid matrix between the thylakoid membrane and the two outer membranes of a chloroplast; site of light-independent photosynthesis reactions |
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| A chloroplast’s inner membrane system, often folded as flattened sacs, that forms a continuous compartment in the stroma. In the first stage of photosynthesis, pigments and enzymes in the membrane function in the formation of ATP and NADPH. |
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| Distance between crests of two successive waves of radiant energy. |
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