Question

Does moonlight support photosynthesis? Find out.

Answer 1

Hint: Photosynthesis occurs at the cellular level in cell organelles known as chloroplasts. These organelles contain a green pigment called chlorophyll, which is responsible for the leaves' distinctive green colour.

Complete answer:
Photosynthesis is a process that plants and other organisms use to convert light energy into chemical energy that can then be released to fuel the organism's metabolic activities via cellular respiration.

According to the definition of photosynthesis, the process occurs solely in chloroplasts via photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotene, and xanthophyll. Photosynthesis is used by all green plants and a few other autotrophic organisms to synthesize nutrients from carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight. Oxygen is a byproduct of the photosynthesis process.

Aside from green plants, photosynthesis also applies to other organisms. Prokaryotes such as cyanobacteria, purple bacteria, and green sulfur bacteria are among them. Photosynthesis is performed by these organisms in the same way that green plants do.

As previously stated, photosynthesis takes place in leaves, and the specialized cell organelles responsible for this process are known as chloroplasts. A leaf is made up of three parts: a petiole, an epidermis, and a lamina. During photosynthesis, the lamina absorbs sunlight and carbon dioxide.

Plants cannot perform photosynthesis in the moonlight because there is insufficient energy to excite chlorophyll molecules, i.e., reaction centres PS I and PS II, and thus light-dependent reactions are not initiated.

As a result, no photosynthesis occurs in the presence of moonlight.

Note: Unlike plants, certain photosynthesizing bacteria do not produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis. These bacteria are known as anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria. Oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria are bacteria that produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis.