Photosystem II Powers All Life On Earth
Photosystem II is a nearly miraculous complex that starts off photosynthesis. In this one-minute #shorts video, I try to give you as much of an introduction as possible.
Full video here: • This Chemical Steals Sunlight to Power All...
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Photosystem II is the first complex in the light reactions of photosynthesis. You'll find Photosystem II in every plant cell on earth--inside the thylakoids of each chloroplast.
It uses chlorophyll and a few other pigments to capture sunlight, funneling them down to a place called the oxygen evolving center
There, Photosystem II literally BREAKS water molecules apart. Photosystem II turns two water molecules--H2O--into 4 electrons, 4 protons and 1 oxygen molecule. Those protons and electrons are what the thylakoid will use to actually capture that solar energy and use it for food.
The way this happens is wild and requires a lot of detail--but basically sunlight powers up two special chlorophylls in Photosystem II (called p680) Those chlorophylls become powerful enough to be the single strongest oxidizing agent known in the natural world--which is why they are strong enough to rip electrons off of water.
This process is cool because it makes food for plants, but also because it just throws oxygen out of the plant and into the atmosphere.
Before Photosystem II -- there was basically no oxygen in Earth's atmosphere.
After the Phoyosystem II complex evolved, more complex life could evolve on earth.
More importantly, Photosystem II's oxygen production created the ozone layer, which makes life on earth's surface possible.
So it's twofold. All the food on earth gets made initially by photosystem II capturing sunlight one way or another, and we have the oxygen we need to turn that food into energy because of photosystem II.
All complex life on earth is made possible by this one molecular complex, and that will NEVER stop blowing my mind. This is what brings me pure joy while studying science. This is why you study biology, so you can study biochemistry and understand the pure wonder that is our smallest components working together to keep us alive.
This animation aims to break down the complexities of biochem and make them digestible for a larger audience. Science animations like this are critical for inspiring the next generation of life sciences. This channel exists because we are on the cusp of a lot of major breakthroughs in computational biology and need as many aspiring STEM students to consider biology and biomedical engineering.