4 Photosynthesis is a redox process, as iscellular respiration• Cellular respiration uses redox reactions to harvestthe chemical energy stored in a glucose molecule.• This is accomplished by oxidizing the sugar andreducing O2to H2O.• The electrons lose potential as they travel down theelectron transport chain to O2.• In contrast, the food-producing redox reactions ofphotosynthesis require energy.© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.2019/11/19117.4 Photosynthesis is a redox process, as iscellular respiration• In photosynthesis,• light energy is captured by chlorophyll molecules toboost the energy of electrons,• light energy is converted to chemical energy, and• chemical energy is stored in the chemical bonds ofsugars.© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.Figure 7.4bC6H12O6 + 6 O26 CO2 + 6 H2OBecomes reducedBecomes oxidized7.5 The two stages of photosynthesis arelinked by ATP and NADPH• Photosynthesis occurs in two stages.1. The light reactions occur in the thylakoidmembranes. In these reactions• water is split, providing a source of electrons and givingoff oxygen as a by-product,• ATP is generated from ADP and a phosphate group, and• light energy is absorbed by the chlorophyll molecules todrive the transfer of electrons and H+from water to theelectron acceptor NADP+, reducing it to NADPH.• NADPH, produced by the light reactions, provides the“reducing power” to the Calvin cycle.© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc.2019/11/19127.5 The two stages of photosynthesis arelinked by ATP and NADPH2. The second stage is the Calvin cycle, which occursin the stroma of the chloroplast.• The Calvin cycle is a cyclic series of reactions thatassembles sugar molecules using CO2 and the energyrich products of the light reactions.• During the Calvin cycle, CO2is incorporated into organiccompounds in a process called carbon fixation.• After carbon fixation, the carbon compounds are reducedto sugars.• The Calvin cycle is often called the dark reactions, orlight-independent reactions, because none of the stepsrequires light directly.