Page 67 - The Manga Guide to Biochemistry

Well, as you probably know,
everything around us is made
up of atoms. Every atom has a

center called a nucleus... and a group
of electrons

revolving around
this nucleus.

When sunlight I'll explain it Yikes!
strikes chlorophyll, in detail!!
When this happens,
the molecule is Electron one of the electrons
"excited" by the in the molecule ends

light energy. up flying off.*

Light

Nucleus

* Actually, Electrons fly off only from the central reaction center chlorophyll. The other chlorophyll
molecules act as amplifiers to feed energy into the reaction center, which enables the electrons to detach.

The free electron Ah! I get it now! Yeah!
is then delivered to Since the electrons are
another protein complex passed along to another
near the chlorophyll. complex, it's called an
"electron transport chain!"
This other protein complex is also
embedded in the thylakoid membrane.

Remember the Oh! So a plant
collection of weird can't perform
photosynthesis
shapes earlier?
if it doesn't
That electron is have water.
replenished by breaking
down water molecules,

and O2 is produced
as a result.