Comparison of the efficiency of photosynthesis in a pro- and a eukaryotic oxyphototroph in terms of moles of photons required for biomass production and electron pair generation at moderate light intensities.

Biomass yield on photons for Synechocystis WT, Chlorella and Synechocystis PAL. Cells were growing in red (659 nm) light or red and blue (447 nm) light. Iin, light intensity in μmol m-2 s-1 passing through the culture vessel containing only medium; Iout, light intensity in μmol m-2 s-1 passing through the culture vessel containing cell culture; OD730, optical density at 730 nm; g DW L-1, biomass density in gram dry weight per liter; μ h-1, growth rate per hour; mol hν/g DW, growth yield in mol photons absorbed per g biomass. hν/2e-, # of photons absorbed per electron pair for nitrogen and carbon incorporation. The elemental composition of the cells was taken from literature: for Synechocystis [43–45] and for Chlorella [46–48] and averaged. The values shown are averages of three measurements with standard deviation.Comparison of the efficiency of photosynthesis in a pro- and a eukaryotic oxyphototroph in terms of moles of photons required for biomass production and electron pair generation at moderate light intensities.