Pigment Location

Pigment molecules are held in place by the photosystems, which are protein complexes.

The position of the pigments is essential for an efficient transfer of the excitation energy. A diagram of the electron transport chain in the thylakoid membrane. Structures are embedded in the thylakoid membrane, the first structure on the left is a light harvesting complex called photosystem 2. It contains a reaction centre that gets excited by light energy. To the right of photosystem 2 lies cytochrome b6f. Plastoquinone carries electrons from photosystem 2 to the cytochrome complex. Next to the cytochrome complex, is photosystem one, which is also excited by light energy. Plastocyanin carries electrons from the cytochrome complex to photosystem 1. From photosystem 1, electrons reduce NADP plus to NADPH. To the right of photosystem one, ATPsynthase is embedded in the thylakoid membrane. Here, ADP is phosphorylated to become ATP. Free protons and pxygen can be seen in the thylakoid lumen, and free protons the stroma outside the thylakoid membrane.

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