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Photosynthesis

Carbon Metabolism: The Profound Effects of Illumination on the Metabolism of Photosynthetic Cells

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Part of the book series: Progress in Botany / Fortschritte der Botanik ((BOTANY,volume 44))

Abstract

The first investigations of photosynthesis became possible after Jan Ingenhousz demonstrated, sometime during the 1770’s, that light was necessary for the “purification of air” by plants. Naturally, no distinction was made at that time between “light reactions” and “dark reactions”. This distinction did not develop until after the discovery of the Hill reaction (late 1930’s), and photophosphorylation and the Calvin cycle (early 1950’s). Once developed, the concept of “light reactions” and “dark reactions” took firm hold, and for a period well into the 1970’s, the role of light in photosynthesis was viewed to be more-or-less exclusively restricted to the generation of ATP and NADPH for the Calvin cycle.

“The first man I saw was of a meagre aspect, with sooty hands and face, his hair and beard long, ragged and singed in several places. His clothes, shirt, and skin were all of the same colour. He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers…”

Jonathan Swift in Gulliver’s Travels, ca. 1727

Abbreviations: CAM, crassulacean acid metabolism; CoA, coenzyme A; FBP, fructose-1, 6-P2; GAP, glyceraldehyde-3-P; OAA, oxaloacetate; PEP, P-enolpyruvate; Pi, inorganic phosphate; RuBP, ribulose-1,5-P2; SBP, sedoheptulose-1,7-P2.

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Kelly, G.J., Latzko, E. (1982). Photosynthesis. In: Ellenberg, H., Esser, K., Kubitzki, K., Schnepf, E., Ziegler, H. (eds) Progress in Botany / Fortschritte der Botanik. Progress in Botany / Fortschritte der Botanik, vol 44. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68752-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68752-5_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68754-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68752-5

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