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Photosynthesis process featuring its light and dark stages.

Photosynthesis process featuring its light and dark stages.
Photosynthesis process featuring its light and dark stages.
Photosynthesis process featuring its light and dark stages.
Photosynthesis process featuring its light and dark stages.
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211871
Joyce, Katherine S.
Photosynthesis process featuring its light and dark stages.
Illustration
04/18/2006
LaneyIllus_v7.jpg
Image Of the Day caption:
WHOI biologist Sam Laney studies the daily lives of single-celled plants in the ocean known as phytoplankton. The organisms carry out photosynthesis within specialized organelles called chloroplasts, which contain the green pigment chlorophyll. The chloroplasts act like little factories, taking in raw materials (carbon dioxide) and energy (sunlight) to create products (sugars). But too much light energy on bright days can damange chlorophyll, and too little on cloudy days doesnt provide enough energy. To cope, phytoplankton have accessory pigments called xanthophylls that act as gatekeepers. Click here to learn more.
Illustration by Katherine S. Joyce
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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