Page 131 - Miracles Within the Molecule
P. 131

GLUCOSE








            Chloroplasts work like fac -
            to ries in the leaf cells of
            green plants. A string of
            pho to syn thet ic reac tions
            pro duce oxy gen and glu -
            cose from water and car -
            bon diox ide. Every chlo ro -
            plast con tains spe cial
            pack a ges known as grana
            (below).  These turn solar                              Cell wall
            ener gy into chem i cal ener -
            gy and con tain pro teins                               Nucleus
            that employ light-sen si tive
            elec trons and the req ui site
            enzymes.
                                                    Chloroplast


                        A starch
                                Grana






                                                            Six water mol e cu les
                                                            and six car bon diox ide
                                                            mol e cu les are nec es sa -
                                                            ry to form one glu cose
                                                            mol e cule. In this proc -
                                                            ess, six oxy gen atoms
                                                            are given off.






                                                                           GLUCOSE

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