Abstract
Of the sunlight incident on the surface of the earth, about 2% is captured and stored by photosynthetic organisms. This volume describes the many facets of how that process is accomplished. In this chapter we consider the “physical part”. This begins with the absorption of incident radiation by the photosynthetic pigments. The first response by the plant is mediated by electrons, which change orbitals as a consequence of photon absorption to produce an excited state of a molecule or of a collection of molecules. This excitation then migrates among antenna pigment molecules until it reaches a photosynthetic reaction center, where separation of the electron from a positively charged hole occurs.
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© 1986 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Sauer, K. (1986). Photosynthetic Light Reactions — Physical Aspects. In: Staehelin, L.A., Arntzen, C.J. (eds) Photosynthesis III. Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, vol 19. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70936-4_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70936-4_2
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