Question

Which cell organelle is the site for photosynthesis?

Answer 1

Hint: 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.

Complete answer:
Most living things rely on photosynthetic cells to produce the complex organic molecules they require as an energy source. Photosynthetic cells are found in a wide range of organisms, including green plants, phytoplankton, and cyanobacteria. Cells use carbon dioxide and energy from the Sun to produce sugar molecules and oxygen during photosynthesis.

These sugar molecules serve as the foundation for the photosynthetic cell's production of more complex molecules such as glucose. Cells then use oxygen and glucose to synthesise energy-rich carrier molecules like ATP via respiration processes, and carbon dioxide is produced as a waste product. As a result, the synthesis of glucose and its breakdown by cells are diametrically opposed processes.

Special pigments in photosynthetic cells absorb light energy. Different pigments react to visible light at different wavelengths. Chlorophyll, the primary pigment used in photosynthesis, reflects green light while strongly absorbing red and blue light.

Photosynthesis occurs in chloroplasts, which contain chlorophyll, in plants. Chloroplasts are surrounded by a double membrane and have a third inner membrane known as the thylakoid membrane, which forms long folds within the organelle. Thylakoid membranes appear like stacks of coins in electron micrographs, despite the fact that the compartments they form are connected like a maze of chambers.

The green pigment chlorophyll is found within the thylakoid membrane, and the stroma is the space between the thylakoid and chloroplast membranes.

The major pigment used in photosynthesis is chlorophyll A, but there are several types of chlorophyll and numerous other pigments that respond to light, including red, brown, and blue pigments. These other pigments may aid in the transmission of light energy to chlorophyll A or may protect the cell from photo-damage.

Photosynthesis is made up of both light-dependent and light-independent reactions. The so-called "light" reactions in plants take place within the chloroplast thylakoids, which contain the aforementioned chlorophyll pigments. Following the light reactions, the light-independent or "dark" reactions occur in the chloroplast stroma.

The chloroplast is the site for photosynthesis.

Note: Chlorophyll and other light-sensitive pigments in photosynthetic cells capture solar energy. Such cells can convert solar energy into energy-rich organic molecules like glucose in the presence of carbon dioxide. These cells not only drive the global carbon cycle, but they also produce a large portion of the oxygen found in the Earth's atmosphere.