How do photosystems 1 and 2 differ?

1 Answer
Jun 24, 2018

Photosystems are groups of photosynthetic pigments like chlorophyll a , b and carotinoids

Explanation:

Both photosystems are composed of two components:

1)Reaction centre

  • Central molecule of modified chlorophyll a which functions optimally at 700 nm for PS I and 680 nm for PS II

-Converts the photon energy to kinetic energy of electrons by releasing 4 high velocity electrons which is further transferred to NADP and ADP to give energy rich molecules NADPH and ATP by Electron transport system(ETS)

2)Antenna molecules or Light harvesting system or Light harvesting complex:

  • As the name suggest, LHC collects photons of light modifying their wavelength to approximately to 700 nm(PS I) or 680 nm (PS II) at which the reaction centre functions optimally.

  • Composed of chlorophyll and carotenoid molecules