Question

Bacteria do not have chloroplast but some bacteria are photoautotrophic in nature and perform photosynthesis. Which part of the bacterial cell performs this?

Answer 1

Chlorophyll:

1. Bacterial cells do not have chloroplast but yet some photoautotrophic bacteria perform photosynthesis due to the presence of chlorophyll incorporated in the membrane.
2. Chlorophyll molecules are arranged in and around photosystems that are embedded in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts.
3. Thylakoids are interconnected disc-like sacs of the internal membrane system of the chloroplast.
4. The thylakoid membrane contains the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll, which absorbs the sunlight during photosynthesis.
5. Reaction centers are embedded in the cell membrane that absorbs light energy.
6. This reaction center exists in form of sacs-tubes or sheets depending on the amount of surface area needed.
7. Cyanobacteria are the largest and most diverse group of photosynthetic bacteria.
8. They are also known as blue-green algae.
9. These are true prokaryotes i.e., they have no chloroplast.
10. They still perform photosynthesis.
11. The reason for this is that they have chlorophylls that are dispersed in the cytoplasm (not packed in chloroplast-like photosynthetic eukaryotes).