Photosynthesis, Institute of

(full name, Institute of Photosynthesis of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR), a scientific research institution that conducts studies of the mechanism of photosynthesis in plants and microorganisms. It was organized in 1966 at the Scientific Center for Biological Research of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in the city of Pushchino, Serpukhov Raion, Moscow Oblast.

The institute has (1976) laboratories of photochemistry, biochemistry, and photophosphorylation, and laboratories for the study of the photolysis of water, the photosynthesis of microorganisms, the structure of the photosynthetic apparatus, and carbon metabolism. It also has a department of phytotronics, scientific groups on the energetics and photoregulation of photosynthesis, and a number of small specialized laboratories.

The institute conducts research on the primary photosynthetic processes of absorption and conversion of light energy to chemical energy, the processes of the photolysis of water and the emission of oxygen, and the biochemical reactions that occur in the chloroplasts and lead to the formation of a photosynthetic reducing agent and energy-rich phosphorus compounds. It also studies the cycle of assimilation and reduction of carbon dioxide and the molecular and structural organization of the photosynthetic apparatus. In addition, it conducts physiological research associated with agricultural production under greenhouse conditions.

The institute has a graduate school, which in addition to the regular program offers correspondence courses.