Photosynthesis Hotosynthesis Research at Okayama University

摘要

If it weren't for a tiny cluster of manganese, calcium, and oxygen atoms found inside the chloroplasts of plant cells, Earth would be a very different planet. Those atoms form the catalyst that allows plants to split water molecules using sunlight-the first step in photosynthesis. Without them, plants and other photosynthetic organisms wouldn't be able to use solar energy to grow, and they wouldn't give off the oxygen we breathe. Yet exactly how that key catalyst works is still a mystery.