In photosynthesis whats the difference between primary and accesory pigments?
I think the primary pigment is/are the pigment(s) that lose the powered-up electrons. In plants this is typically chlorophyll a. The accessory pigments pass energy along to the photosystems, but (I think) do not themselves lose electrons.
Primary pigments are molecules that convert light energy to chemical energy directly; chlorophyll is the primary pigment in all photosynthetic organisms. Accessory pigments are molecules that absorb photons which are not captured by chlorophyll. The presence of accessory pigments (found in the thylakoid membranes of plants) allows phototrophs (plants, algae, and cyanobacteria) to capture energy from the sun that would otherwise go to waste. The two most common types of accessory pigments are carotenoids and phycobilins. Some examples of carotenoids in common plants are: beta-carotein (carrot orange), lutein (marigold yellow), and lycopene (tomato red). Phycobilins are found only in red algae or cyanobacteria. The two most common phycobilins are: phycoerythrin (red), and phycocyanin (blue). The presence of accessory pigments in plants is masked by the presence of chlorophyll during the Spring and Summer seasons; that's why leaves are green most of the time. The color change from green to red, orange, or yellow that we observed during the Fall season is caused by the absence of chlorophyll; the accessory pigments are always present until the leaves fall as the trees go into dormant mode.
