Focus on broad aspects. Basically I am looking for you to explain these ideas back to me in a
broad, coherent manner. I may ask you to draw diagrams and label them. I will ask some
straightforward fill-in the blank questions; I will ask you to interpret some data. Feel free to
watch the videos on photosynthesis.
We have covered structural and functional aspects of how plants:
construct their body plan: organs, tissues, cell types
grow and adjust throughout their lives (unlike most animals)
gather light; enhanced by leaf morphology, pigments and protein complexes
transform light energy into chemical energy
make sugars and starches
obtain CO2 from the atmosphere
convert carbohydrates into ATP
How might some of the lab experiments fit into major concepts? Could you interepret a data set
similar to the data you generated in lab 1, 2, or 3?
Can you explain major concepts covered in the two papers and the book that we discussed?
How are plant cells/bodies different from animals (physiologically, developmentally,
anatomically, morphologically, etc)? What cellular AND whole plant features make plants
unique organisms?
Are only plants photosynthetic? How do plants differ from other autotrophic organisms that are
not plants?
What are the divisions of Kingdom Plantae? What are the major evolutionary innovations and
characteristics of each division? How did ecological constraints favor the evolution of the
different structures or lifestyles within the Kingdom Plantae?
Vascular plants are divided into two main groups of organisms. What is the basis for the
distinction between these two groups? What distinguishes angiosperms from gymnosperms
(morphology and anatomy)?
Draw/label the major organs of vascular plant bodies. What are the functions of each major
organ? Describe/draw the main tissues and their function. Be sure to include the major cell
types within each organ.
Why might indeterminacy be adaptive for plants? What enables plants able to grow throughout
their lifetime?
What and where are the plant meristems (find all of them)? What is the difference between
primary and secondary growth?
What defines a cell organelle? The cytoplasm? What kinds of organelles would you suspect to
be very abundant in metabolically active cells such as immature, growing cells?
Describe the structural components of membranes – and what each macromolecule in the
membrane does (functional roles). Cold tolerant generally have more of what kind of
phospholipids? Why?
What organelles are involved in the synthesis of all the components in a plant membrane?
Why are mitochondria and chloroplasts termed semi-autonomous? What does each do?
Why are vacuoles so important for plant cells? What are its myriad functions?
Understand structure and function of cell walls. How do primary cell walls differ from
secondary? What component is only present in secondary walls? Do actively growing cells
have a secondary cell wall? Where are cell wall components synthesized?
Cytoskeleton provides support, what else do cytoskeletal elements do?
How might plant cells ‘communicate’ in spite of having cell walls?
Plastids –there are lots of different kinds – what are some examples. How are plastids unique?
What are their roles? The chloroplast is a unique plastid, label a diagram of the chloroplast
What is unique about plant genomes?
Know, describe, draw: structure and function of leaves, differences among sun, shade,
xerophytic, mesic and hydrophilic leaves.
How do stomata open and close?
Understand light as a physical entity – is it a wave or a particle? What is PAR? What
wavelength is PAR? What is PPFD and what are the units.
What is the chemical equation that summarizes photosynthesis? Why do we call it a re-dox
reaction?
What are the two main chemical events of psn? What happens in each? Where do they occur?
Draw a chloroplast; illustrate structure, location of pigments and main photosynthetic processes.
What are antennae complexes and how do they work? How do antennae transfer energy? What
are the main pigments involved in light transfer to photosystems? And how do we know that
these pigments are involved in PSN? What wavelengths of energy do each pigment absorb?
What do we mean when we say that pigments absorb light and transform energy? How does the
structure of photosynthetic pigments make them a good candidate for transforming light energy
to chemical energy? What pigments are present, but not involved in photosynthesis? What do
they do (esp. xanthophylls)?
What are PSI and PSII and how do they work? What is the OEC and what is its role in the light
reaction? What are some of the other membrane bound proteins in the light reaction? What does
the flow of electrons function to do in the light reaction?
Summarize the light reactions. Include al steps from the photolysis of water, electron transport,
NADPH formation and photophosphorylation.
What is the function of PQ? And the cytochrome b6-f complex?
What molecule is the final electron acceptor in non-cyclic reactions? What happens with cyclic
light reactions and why might they occur?
What are some possible fates of the energy absorbed when an electron is raised to a higher
energy level? Could excess energy be damaging? If so, how do plants minimize this effect?
What is the proton motive force? Where have you seen it (twice)? How is it generated and what
is the ‘purpose’? How is ATP formed?
Why is the name dark reaction a misnomer? Can Calvin Benson cycle proceed without light?
How is the Calvin cycle directly or indirectly regulated by light? What basic events occur in the
Calvin cycle?
What is RubisCO? What does it do? What is RUBP? (Distinguish clearly between these
macromolecules). Generally describe the steps of the Calvin-Benson cycle. What are the basic
inputs and outputs? It is a cycle, what compound is regenerated? Begin with 3 molecules of
RUBP (5C sugar) and sketch what happens during the regeneration cycle. What are some other
major carbohydrates present in the Calvin-Benson cycle? Which one will be shunted off for
production of glucose/sucrose/starch?
Think of the major molecules involved in PSN – why is N so often limiting to plant growth?
What are the energy sources and source of reducing power for the reduction of CO2 during
photosynthesis? Where are these used in the cycle?
What is problematic about Rubisco? Why does it have these problems?
What is photorespiration? Why might photorespiration still occur in the many of plants? Are
there any benefits to photorespiration?
Where do the major steps of PCO occur? Where is CO2 evolved in this process?
What is water use efficiency?
How do aquatic plants prevent PCO?
How do C3, C4, and CAM plants differ in terms of PSN? Sketch the anatomical and/or
metabolic ‘add-ons’ associated with C4 and CAM. What are the ecological constraints that may
have favored the evolution of C4 and CAM?
What forms of carbohydrates are found in plants? Which ones are used for long-term storage
and which ones are for short-term? Where are these compounds in the plant? How does the
plant ‘decide’ between the production of one form versus another?
Why do all eukaryotes respire? Which cells in plants respire? What is the primary initial
substrate for respiration (glycolysis step)? How does the plant degrade storage forms to acquire
this molecule?
Summarize the major respiratory steps necessary for the complete oxidation of starch to ATP.
What are the outcomes of each step in respiration? Where does each step occur? What are some
of the major enzymes? Where do the reducing equivalents (=reducing power = electron donors)
come from during the electron transport chain? What is the final electron acceptor in the ETC?
Other than ATP production, what other useful (from plants perspective) might be produced
during respiration?
What environmental and plant factors affect the rate the respiration? How does metabolic
activity affect respiration rates and how might that change with age or other factors? Why might
respiration increase with temperature?
How does light intensity and CO2 concentration affect carbon fixation (carbohydrate gain via
psn)? Do C3 and C4 plants differ? If so, how? Can plants acclimate to different light levels? If
so, describe how. What are sun and shade leaves and how might morphology affect function?
What is a boundary layer? What factors affect the boundary layer and how do they affect
boundary layers? What are places where CO2 might encounter resistance to entering the plant or
H2O in exiting? The cells? The chloroplasts?
What are a few fundamental trade-offs for plants? What environmental factors affect primary
productivity (for individuals and for systems)?
What are light and CO2 compensation and saturation points? Why does they occur? Why do
whole leaves experience light saturation but whole canopies rarely saturate? Why do C3 plants
have a higher CO2 compensation point relative to C4 plants? Why do C3 plants have higher
CO2 assimilation when C4 plants plateau earlier?
How might competitive interactions between C3 and C4 plants change as the global climate
warms and CO2 concentrations increase? How might temperature interact with CO2 to affect
biomass accumulation?