BIOB10H3 Chapter : chp 6 notes.docx
Document Summary
Organisms that depend on an external source of organic compounds. Organisms capable of surviving on co2 as their principal carbon source. Chemoautotrophs: utilize the chemical energy stored in organic molecules to convert co2 into organic compounds. Photoautotrophs: utilize the radiant energy of the sun to convert co2 into organic compounds. Photosynthesis: a process in which energy from sunlight is transformed into chemical energy that is stored in carbohydrates and other organic molecules. During photosynthesis, relatively low-energy electrons are removed from a donor compound and converted into high-energy electrons using the energy absorbed from light. Extensive genetic analyses of chloroplast genomes suggest that all modern chloroplasts have arisen from a single, ancient symbiotic relationship. As a result of their common ancestry, chloroplasts and cyanobacteria share many basic characteristics, including a similar photosynthetic machinery. Chloroplasts are located predominantly in the mesophyll cells of leaves. Chloroplasts were identified as the site of photosynthesis in 1881 in an ingenious experiment by the.
