Plant Physiology - Musiyenko M.M. 2001

Photosynthesis: Physiological, Biochemical, and Ecological Aspects
Review Questions and Tasks

1. Solar radiation covers a wide amplitude of wavelengths—from ultrashort waves to radio waves. What range does photosynthetically active radiation occupy?

2. Explain The Essence and significance of Photosynthesis.

3. Write the general equation for photosynthesis.

4. Outline The history of ideas regarding The Nature of photosynthesis. Why is it referred to as a unique function of green plants in physicochemical and general biological terms?

5. Characterize the Morphology and Structure OF THE plant photosynthetic apparatus. What do the terms lamella, stroma, grana, and thylakoid mean?

6. Provide a comparative characterization of the photosynthetic apparatus in evolutionarily diverse plant groups.

7. Name the Photosynthetic Pigments of plants. What is their role in photosynthesis?

8. What is the chromophore group of chlorophyll? What accounts for the ability of chlorophyll to undergo reversible oxidation-reduction reactions?

9. Why did plants acquire a green color in the course of evolution?

10. Explain the functional and ecological significance of spectrally distinct pigment forms in photosynthetic organisms.

11. Provide evidence that photosynthesis is not a single-stage process, but rather consists of a series of reactions of various natures (photophysical, photochemical, enzymatic).

12. What are the MAIN STAGES OF chlorophyll Biosynthesis?

13. Name the possible electronically excited states of chlorophylls and the existing pathways for their deactivation.

14. Define the reaction center and the photosynthetic unit. WHAT IS A photosystem?

15. It has been established that the quantum yield of photosynthesis can be increased by using short flashes of light with dark intervals instead of continuous illumination. How can this be explained?

16. Name the Components of the photosynthetic Electron Transport Chain. What alternative electron transport pathways do you know?

17. How is oxygen generated in the Reactions of the light-dependent stage of photosynthesis?

18. Characterize the Primary processes of photosynthesis.

19. What is photosynthetic phosphorylation?

20. How does the cooperative interaction of electrons and protons create conditions for ATP formation during photosynthesis?

21. Characterize the Structural Organization of Photosystem I and II, the intermediate linking component between them, and the ATP synthase complex.

22. Name the main products of the light-dependent stage of photosynthesis.

23. What is the light-independent (dark) stage of photosynthesis?

24. Plants contain two important Enzymes: ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. Describe the reactions involving each of these enzymes and characterize their functional relationship.

25. What is the relationship between the light-dependent and light-independent Stages of Photosynthesis?

26. Describe the main stages of The Calvin Cycle.

27. What is the C4 pathway of photosynthesis?

28. Under what conditions does the enzyme ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase function as an oxygenase?

29. Why do plants with the C4 pathway of photosynthesis exhibit higher productivity and drought resistance?

30. What is Photorespiration?

31. How does photosynthesis in succulents differ from that in C3 and C4 plants?

32. How do environmental factors (Temperature, light, CO2 concentration, etc.) affect The rate of photosynthesis?

33. What parameters of the photosynthetic process determine the productivity of agricultural crops?

34. What is The Role of photosynthesis theory in The Development of crop production?

35. Name the ways to increase the efficiency of solar quantum energy utilization in The process of photosynthesis.

36. What is photoreduction, and what are the Main Features of Bacterial photosynthesis?

37. What are the heterotrophic and autotrophic types of plant Nutrition? What Energy Sources can be used by heterotrophs and autotrophs to synthesize organic matter?

38. There are two Main Pathways of carbon transformation in plant photosynthesis: the C3 and C4 pathways. What is THE ORIGIN OF their names? List their main differences (primary CO2 acceptors, intermediates, primary products, Structural Features of the photosynthetic apparatus, etc.).

39. Electron transport in The electron transport chain of the Z-scheme of photosynthesis results in The formation of a positively charged "hole" in P700 of photosystem I. How is this deficit filled:

a) during cyclic transport; b) during non-cyclic transport?

40. Provide Examples of the interactive EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL factors on the rate of photosynthesis.

41. According to P. Mitchell's chemiosmotic theory, How is the electrochemical proton gradient ΔμH+ generated across chloroplast membranes? What are its two components?

42. What is the role of Mn in photochemical reactions? Why is it not required in bacterial photosynthesis?

43. Describe the Evolution of the phototrophic function in plants.



Last update: 07/08/2026

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