Answer:
D. C4 plants
Step-by-step explanation:
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and other photoautotrophs synthesize carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide, water, and light energy in chloroplasts.
Photosynthesis occurs in two stages:
The light-dependent reactions and
The light-independent reactions, or Calvin Cycle.
Light-dependent reactions occur in the presence of sunlight. In these reactions, energy from sunlight is absorbed by chlorophyll and converted into stored chemical energy, in the form of NADPH and ATP. The light-dependent reactions take place in the thylakoid membranes in the grana within the chloroplast.
Light-independent reactions or Calvin cycle: In these reactions, the energized electrons from the light-dependent reactions provide the energy to form carbohydrates from carbon dioxide molecules. There are three phases to the light-independent reactions: carbon fixation, reduction reactions, and ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) regeneration.
C3 plants carry out both the light-dependent and the Calvin cycle within the choroplast organelles. They carry out the Calvin cycle by producing a three-carboncompound called 3-phosphoglyceric acid, hence the name C3.
C4 plants carry out photosynthesis in a two-stage process that first produced a four-carbon intermediate compound in the chloroplast of a thin-walled mesophyll cell. Once synthesized, the plant pumps the intermediate compound into a thick-walled bundle sheath cell, where it splits the compound into carbon dioxide and a three-carbon compound. The carbon dioxide then undergoes the Calvin cycle.
CAM (crassulacean acid metabolism) plants carry out photosynthesis by absorbing sunlight energy during the day, and then using the energy to fix carbon dioxide molecules during the night.