Photosynthesis in Higher Plants

Early experiments


  • Photosynthesis is an anabolic method of manufacturing organic compounds from CO2 and H2O with the sunlight source as energy, that happens only in chlorophyll containing cells.
    \tt 6 CO_{2}+12\ H_{2}O\ \xrightarrow[Light, Enzymes]{{Chlorophyll}}\ C_{6}H_{12}O_{6}\ +\ 6H_{2}O\ +\ 6O_{2}\uparrow
  • Joseph Priestley demonstrated inverted jar, mice experiment to prove that plants purify the foul gas (phlogiston) into pure gas (dephlogistion).
  • Julius Von Sachs observed that the starch is the first visible product of photosynthesis.
  • Engelmann plotted the first action spectrum by discovering the role of different wavelengths of light on photosynthesis.
  • 2 steps of photosynthesis - (i) Light and (ii) Dark reaction and the law of limiting factors were proposed by Blackmann.
  • Warburg performed an experiment using a green alga Chlorella to prove that O2 is liberated during photosynthesis.
  • Van Niel conducted few experiments on bacteria and stated that it uses H2S instead of H2O and produces 'S' during photosynthesis.

View this video for the topic from 0:33 to 33:49

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