Autotrophic Nutrition

Carbon and energy requirements of the autotrophic organism are fulfilled by photosynthesis. It is the process by which autotrophs take in substances from the outside and convert them into stored forms of energy. This material is taken in the form of carbon dioxide and water which is converted into carbohydrates in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll. Carbohydrates are utilised for providing energy to the plant. We will study how this takes place in the next section. The carbohydrates which are not used immediately are stored in the form of starch, which serves as the internal energy reserve to be used as and when required by the plant. A somewhat similar situation is seen in us where some of the energy derived from the food we eat is stored in our body in the form of glycogen.

Let us now see what actually happens during the process of photosynthesis. The following events occur during this process –

1. Absorption of light energy by chlorophyll.

2. Conversion of light energy to chemical energy and splitting of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.

3. Reduction of carbon dioxide to carbohydrates.

These steps need not take place one after the other immediately. For example, desert plants take up carbon dioxide at night and prepare an intermediate which is acted upon by the energy absorbed by the chlorophyll during the day.

Let us see how each of the components of the above reaction are necessary for photosynthesis.

If you carefully observe a cross-section of a leaf under the microscope (shown in Fig. 6.1), you will notice that some cells contain green dots. These green dots are cell organelles called chloroplasts which contain chlorophyll. Let us do an activity which demonstrates that chlorophyll is essential for photosynthesis.

Activity 6.1

1. Take a potted plant with variegated leaves – for example, money plant or crotons.
2. Keep the plant in a dark room for three days so that all the starch gets used up.
3. Now keep the plant in sunlight for about six hours.
4. Pluck a leaf from the plant. Mark the green areas in it and trace them on a sheet of paper.
5. Dip the leaf in boiling water for a few minutes.
6. After this, immerse it in a beaker containing alcohol.
7. Carefully place the above beaker in a water-bath and heat till the alcohol begins to boil.
8. What happens to the colour of the leaf? What is the colour of the solution?
9. Now dip the leaf in a dilute solution of iodine for a few minutes.
10. Take out the leaf and rinse off the iodine solution.
11. Observe the colour of the leaf and compare this with the tracing of the leaf done in the beginning (Fig. 6.2).
12. What can you conclude about the presence of starch in various areas of the leaf

Now, let us study how the plant obtains carbon dioxide. In Class IX, we had talked about stomata (Fig. 6.3)

which are tiny pores present on the surface of the leaves. Massive amounts of gaseous exchange takes place in the leaves through these pores for the purpose of photosynthesis. But it is important to note here that exchange of gases occurs across the surface of stems, roots and leaves as well. Since large amounts of water can also be lost through these stomata, the plant closes these pores when it does not need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The opening and closing of the pore is a function of the guard cells. The guard cells swell when water flows into them, causing the stomatal pore to open. Similarly the pore closes if the guard cells shrink.

Activity 6.2

1. Take two healthy potted plants which are nearly the same size.
2. Keep them in a dark room for three days.
3. Now place each plant on separate glass plates. Place a watch-glass containing potassium hydroxide by the side of one of the plants. The potassium hydroxide is used to absorb carbon dioxide.
4. Cover both plants with separate bell-jars as shown in Fig. 6.4.
5. Use vaseline to seal the bottom of the jars to the glass plates so that the set-up is air-tight.
6. Keep the plants in sunlight for about two hours.
7. Pluck a leaf from each plant and check for the presence of starch as in the above activity.
8. Do both the leaves show the presence of the same amount of starch?
9. What can you conclude from this activity?

Based on the two activities performed above, can we design an experiment to demonstrate that sunlight is essential for photosynthesis?

So far, we have talked about how autotrophs meet their energy requirements. But they also need other raw materials for building their body. Water used in photosynthesis is taken up from the soil by the roots in terrestrial plants. Other materials like nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and magnesium are taken up from the soil. Nitrogen is an essential element used in the synthesis of proteins and other compounds. This is taken up in the form of inorganic nitrates or nitrites. Or it is taken up as organic compounds which have been prepared by bacteria from atmospheric nitrogen.