Limiting factors of photosynthesis

A limiting factor is simply anything in short supply that prevents photosynthesis

occurring at its maximum rate.

If photosynthesis occurs more slowly in plant cells then a lower quantity of sugar will be
produced and the quantity of chemical energy available for cell growth will be reduced.

There are three important factors that can limit the rate of photosynthesis:

Light intensity

Carbon dioxide concentration

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Temperature

It is useful to be able to interpret a graph like the example below.

This graph shows the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis at two
different carbon dioxide concentrations.

Light intensity is limiting the rate of photosynthesis at light intensities of 0 to 3.75 units.
As light intensity is increased the rate of photosynthesis increases.

At light intensities of 3.75 to 5.5, a carbon dioxide concentration of 0.03 per cent is
insufficient and limits the rate of photosynthesis. A carbon dioxide concentration of 0.1
per cent is sufficient and the rate of photosynthesis continues to increase as light
intensity increases.

At light intensities of 5.5 units and above, a carbon dioxide concentration of 0.1 per cent
is limiting and the rate of photosynthesis does not increase even when light intensity is
increased.

Light intensity is not limiting the rate of photosynthesis at light intensities of five to eight
units. As light intensity is increased the rate of photosynthesis remains the same.

At light intensities of five to eight units carbon dioxide concentration is limiting the rate of
photosynthesis. If the light intensity is kept the same, and the carbon dioxide
concentration is increased from 0.03 per cent to 0.10 per cent then the rate of
photosynthesis increases.

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Limiting factors in photosynthesis
by A* Biology on February 11, 2019 in

Usually, only one of these factors will be the limiting factor in a plant at a certain time.
This is the factor which is the furthest from its optimum level at a particular point in time.
If we change the limiting factor the rate of photosynthesis will change but changes to the
other factors will have no effect on the rate.
If the levels of the limiting factor increase so that this factor is no longer the furthest
from its optimum level, the limiting factor will change to the factor which is at that point in
time, the furthest from its optimum level. For example, at night the limiting factor is likely
to be the light intensity as this will be the furthest from its optimum level. During the day,
the limiting factor is likely to switch to the temperature or the carbon dioxide
concentration as the light intensity increases.

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In practice, the farmer will need to find the optimum growing conditions for the crop,
given the costs of providing extra lighting, heat and CO2. Paraffin lamps have

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traditionally been used in greenhouses. Their use increases the rate of photosynthesis
because as well as the light generated from the lamps, the burning paraffin produces
heat and CO2 too.
Investigating the effect of environmental factors on the rate of photosynthesis
One way to measure the rate of photosynthesis is to measure the rate at which oxygen
is given off by an aquatic plant. There are various ways in which oxygen can be
collected and measured. One method is shown in the diagram below.

Alternatively, you can make calcium alginate balls containing green algae and place
them in hydrogencarbonate indicator solution. As the algae photosynthesise, they take
in carbon dioxide which causes the pH around them to increase. The indicator changes
from orange, through red to magenta.
Whichever technique is used, you should change one factor (your independent variable)
while keeping all others constant (the control variables). The dependent variable will be

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the rate at which oxygen is given off (measured by the volume of oxygen collected per
minute in the capillary tube) or
the rate at which carbon dioxide is used (measured by the rate of change of colour of

the hydrogencarbonate indicator solution).

The independent variables you could investigate are:
 Light intensity. You can vary this by using a lamp to shine light onto the plant or
algae. The closer the lamp. the higher the light intensity.
 Wavelength of light. You can vary this by placing coloured filters between the
light source and the plant. Each filter will allow only light of certain wavelengths to pass
through.
 CO2 concentration. You can vary this by adcting sodium hydrogencarbonate to
the water around the aquatic plant. This contains hydrogencarbonate Ions, which are
used as a source of carbon dioxide by aquatic plants.
 Temperature. The part of the apparatus containing the plant or algae can be
placed in a water bath at a range of controlled temperatures.
Video: Limiting factors of photosynthesis
The Light-Dependent Reactions of Photosynthesis

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

 Explain how plants absorb energy from sunlight
 Describe how the wavelength of light affects its energy and color
 Describe how and where photosynthesis takes place within a plant

How can light be used to make food? It is easy to think of light as something that exists
and allows living organisms, such as humans, to see, but light is a form of energy. Like
all energy, light can travel, change form, and be harnessed to do work. In the case of
photosynthesis, light energy is transformed into chemical energy, which autotrophs use
to build carbohydrate molecules. However, autotrophs only use a specific component of
sunlight

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What Is Light Energy?

Figure 2. The wavelength of a single wave is the distance between two consecutive points along the wave.

The sun emits an enormous amount of electromagnetic radiation (solar energy).

Humans can see only a fraction of this energy, which is referred to as “visible light.” The
manner in which solar energy travels can be described and measured as waves.
Scientists can determine the amount of energy of a wave by measuring its wavelength,
the distance between two consecutive, similar points in a series of waves, such as from
crest to crest or trough to trough (Figure 2).

Visible light constitutes only one of many types of electromagnetic radiation emitted
from the sun. The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible wavelengths of
radiation (Figure 3). Each wavelength corresponds to a different amount of energy
carried..

Each type of electromagnetic radiation has a characteristic range of wavelengths. The

longer the wavelength (or the more stretched out it appears), the less energy is carried.
Short, tight waves carry the most energy. This may seem illogical, but think of it in terms
of a piece of moving rope. It takes little effort by a person to move a rope in long, wide
waves. To make a rope move in short, tight waves, a person would need to apply
significantly more energy.

The sun emits (Figure 3) a broad range of electromagnetic radiation, including X-rays
and ultraviolet (UV) rays. The higher-energy waves are dangerous to living things; for
example, X-rays and UV rays can be harmful to humans.

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Absorption of Light

Light energy enters the process of photosynthesis when pigments absorb the light. In
plants, pigment molecules absorb only visible light for photosynthesis. The visible light
seen by humans as white light actually exists in a rainbow of colors. Certain objects,
such as a prism or a drop of water, disperse white light to reveal these colors to the
human eye. The visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is perceived by the
human eye as a rainbow of colors, with violet and blue having shorter wavelengths and,
therefore, higher energy. At the other end of the spectrum toward red, the wavelengths
are longer and have lower energy.

Understanding Pigments

Different kinds of pigments exist, and each absorbs only certain wavelengths (colors) of
visible light. Pigments reflect the color of the wavelengths that they cannot absorb.

All photosynthetic organisms contain a pigment called chlorophyll a, which humans see
as the common green color associated with plants. Chlorophyll a absorbs wavelengths
from either end of the visible spectrum (blue and red), but not from green. Because
green is reflected, chlorophyll appears green.

Figure 4. Plants that commonly grow in the shade benefit from having a variety of light-absorbing pigments.
Each pigment can absorb different wavelengths of light, which allows the plant to absorb any light that passes
through the taller trees. (credit: Jason Hollinger)
Other pigment types include chlorophyll b (which absorbs blue and red-orange light)
and the carotenoids. Each type of pigment can be identified by the specific pattern of
wavelengths it absorbs from visible light, which is its absorption spectrum.

Many photosynthetic organisms have a mixture of pigments; between them, the

organism can absorb energy from a wider range of visible-light wavelengths. Not all
photosynthetic organisms have full access to sunlight. Some organisms grow

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underwater where light intensity decreases with depth, and certain wavelengths are
absorbed by the water. Other organisms grow in competition for light. Plants on the
rainforest floor must be able to absorb any bit of light that comes through, because the
taller trees block most of the sunlight (Figure 4).

How Light-Dependent Reactions Work

The overall purpose of the light-dependent reactions is to convert light energy into
chemical energy. This chemical energy will be used by the Calvin cycle to fuel the
assembly of sugar molecules.

The light-dependent reactions begin in a grouping of pigment molecules and proteins

called a photosystem. Photosystems exist in the membranes of thylakoids. A pigment
molecule in the photosystem absorbs one photon, a quantity or “packet” of light energy,
at a time.

A photon of light energy travels until it reaches a molecule of chlorophyll. The photon
causes an electron in the chlorophyll to become “excited.” The energy given to the
electron allows it to break free from an atom of the chlorophyll molecule. Chlorophyll is
therefore said to “donate” an electron (Figure 5).

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Figure 5. Light energy is absorbed by a chlorophyll molecule and is passed along a pathway to other
chlorophyll molecules. The energy culminates in a molecule of chlorophyll found in the reaction center. The
energy “excites” one of its electrons enough to leave the molecule and be transferred to a nearby primary
electron acceptor. A molecule of water splits to release an electron, which is needed to replace the one
donated. Oxygen and hydrogen ions are also formed from the splitting of water.
To replace the electron in the chlorophyll, a molecule of water is split. This splitting
releases an electron and results in the formation of oxygen (O2) and hydrogen ions (H+)
in the thylakoid space. Technically, each breaking of a water molecule releases a pair of
electrons, and therefore can replace two donated electrons.

The replacing of the electron enables chlorophyll to respond to another photon. The
oxygen molecules produced as byproducts find their way to the surrounding
environment. The hydrogen ions play critical roles in the remainder of the light-
dependent reactions.

Keep in mind that the purpose of the light-dependent reactions is to convert solar
energy into chemical carriers that will be used in the Calvin cycle. In eukaryotes, two

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photosystems exist, the first is called photosystem II, which is named for the order of its
discovery rather than for the order of function.

After the photon hits, photosystem II transfers the free electron to the first in a series of
proteins inside the thylakoid membrane called the electron transport chain. As the
electron passes along these proteins, energy from the electron fuels membrane pumps
that actively move hydrogen ions against their concentration gradient from the stroma
into the thylakoid space. This is quite analogous to the process that occurs in the
mitochondrion in which an electron transport chain pumps hydrogen ions from the
mitochondrial stroma across the inner membrane and into the intermembrane space,
creating an electrochemical gradient. After the energy is used, the electron is accepted
by a pigment molecule in the next photosystem, which is called photosystem I (Figure
6).

Figure 6. From photosystem II, the excited electron travels along a series of proteins. This electron transport
system uses the energy from the electron to pump hydrogen ions into the interior of the thylakoid. A pigment
molecule in photosystem I accepts the electron.

Generating an Energy Carrier: ATP

In the light-dependent reactions, energy absorbed by sunlight is stored by two types of
energy-carrier molecules: ATP and NADPH. The energy that these molecules carry is
stored in a bond that holds a single atom to the molecule. For ATP, it is a phosphate
atom, and for NADPH, it is a hydrogen atom. Recall that NADH was a similar molecule
that carried energy in the mitochondrion from the citric acid cycle to the electron

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transport chain. When these molecules release energy into the Calvin cycle, they each
lose atoms to become the lower-energy molecules ADP and NADP+.
The buildup of hydrogen ions in the thylakoid space forms an electrochemical gradient
because of the difference in the concentration of protons (H+) and the difference in the
charge across the membrane that they create. This potential energy is harvested and
stored as chemical energy in ATP through chemiosmosis, the movement of hydrogen
ions down their electrochemical gradient through the transmembrane enzyme ATP
synthase, just as in the mitochondrion.

The hydrogen ions are allowed to pass through the thylakoid membrane through an
embedded protein complex called ATP synthase. This same protein generated ATP
from ADP in the mitochondrion. The energy generated by the hydrogen ion stream
allows ATP synthase to attach a third phosphate to ADP, which forms a molecule of
ATP in a process called photophosphorylation. The flow of hydrogen ions through ATP
synthase is called chemiosmosis, because the ions move from an area of high to low
concentration through a semi-permeable structure.

Generating Another Energy Carrier: NADPH

The remaining function of the light-dependent reaction is to generate the other energy-
carrier molecule, NADPH. As the electron from the electron transport chain arrives at
photosystem I, it is re-energized with another photon captured by chlorophyll. The
energy from this electron drives the formation of NADPH from NADP+ and a hydrogen
ion (H+). Now that the solar energy is stored in energy carriers, it can be used to make a
sugar molecule.

Section Summary
In the first part of photosynthesis, the light-dependent reaction, pigment molecules
absorb energy from sunlight. The most common and abundant pigment is chlorophyll a.
A photon strikes photosystem II to initiate photosynthesis. Energy travels through the
electron transport chain, which pumps hydrogen ions into the thylakoid space. This
forms an electrochemical gradient. The ions flow through ATP synthase from the
thylakoid space into the stroma in a process called chemiosmosis to form molecules of
ATP, which are used for the formation of sugar molecules in the second stage of
photosynthesis. Photosystem I absorbs a second photon, which results in the formation
of an NADPH molecule, another energy carrier for the Calvin cycle reactions.
ADDITIONAL SELF CHECK QUESTION

1. Describe the pathway of energy in light-dependent reactions.

ANSWER

1. The energy is present initially as light. A photon of light hits chlorophyll, causing an electron to
be energized. The free electron travels through the electron transport chain, and the energy of

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 the electron is used to pump hydrogen ions into the thylakoid space, transferring the energy into
the electrochemical gradient. The energy of the electrochemical gradient is used to power ATP
synthase, and the energy is transferred into a bond in the ATP molecule. In addition, energy
from another photon can be used to create a high-energy bond in the molecule NADPH.

1.

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