Photosynthesis integral and peripheral membrane protein complexes of the photosynthetic system. Plants absorb light primarily using the pigment chlorophyll. The green part of the light spectrum is not absorbed but is reflected which is the reason that most plants have a green color. Besides chlorophyll, plants also use pigments such as carotenes and xanthophylls. Algae also use chlorophyll, but various other pigments are present, such as phycocyanin, carotenes, and xanthophylls in green algae, phycoerythrin in red algae (rhodophytes) and fucoxanthin in brown algae and diatoms resulting in a wide variety of colors. These pigments are embedded in plants and algae in
Light-dependent reactions poorly understood structure embedded within PS II called the "water-splitting complex" or the "oxygen-evolving complex". It catalyzes a reaction that splits water into electrons, protons and oxygen: 2 → 4H + 4e + The actual steps of the above reaction are running in the following way (Dolai's diagram of S-states): The electrons are transferred to special chlorophyll molecules (embedded in PS II) that are promoted to a higher-energy state by the energy of photons. The excitation P680 → P680of the reaction center pigment P680 occurs here. These special chlorophyll molecules embedded in PS II absorb the energy of photons, with