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Practice: Photophosphorylation 1 definitions

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  • NADP+
    Acts as the final electron acceptor in photosynthetic light reactions, becoming reduced to a carrier for electrons in the Calvin cycle.
  • NADPH
    Formed by reduction during light reactions, this molecule transports electrons and energy to the Calvin cycle for carbon fixation.
  • Cyclic Electron Flow
    A pathway involving only photosystem 1, generating ATP without producing oxygen or reducing NADP+.
  • Photosystem 1
    A protein complex in chloroplasts responsible for cyclic electron flow and ATP production, not involved in water splitting.
  • Photosystem 2
    A protein complex that initiates water splitting, releasing oxygen and transferring electrons to the electron transport chain.
  • Ferredoxin
    An iron-sulfur protein that transfers electrons in photosynthetic reactions, directing them either to NADP+ or back to the proton pump.
  • Rhodopsin
    A light-sensitive protein found in archaea and human eyes, capable of generating proton motive force or functioning as a chloride pump.
  • Proton Motive Force
    A gradient of protons across a membrane, used to drive ATP synthesis, generated by light-driven processes in archaea and chloroplasts.
  • Chlorophyll
    A pigment molecule in photosystems that absorbs light energy and transfers excitation to the reaction center.
  • Reaction Center
    The site within a photosystem where excited electrons are transferred, initiating the electron transport chain.
  • Light-Harvesting Complex
    An assembly of pigment molecules acting as an antenna, funneling absorbed light energy to the reaction center.
  • Planck-Einstein Equation
    A formula used to calculate the energy of a photon, involving Planck's constant, speed of light, and wavelength.
  • Planck's Constant
    A fundamental physical constant used in quantum mechanics to relate photon energy to frequency.
  • Avogadro's Number
    A constant representing the number of particles in one mole, used to scale photon energy calculations to a mole.
  • Photon
    A quantum of light energy whose energy is determined by its wavelength and calculated using the Planck-Einstein equation.