Chloroplast

The Chloroplast


 * __** Background of Chloroplast **__

The chloroplast was first discovered in 1905 by the Russian biologist, Konstantin Mereschkowski. However, Julius von Sachs is usually credited for discovering chloroplasts inside of plant cells.

Konstantin Mereschkowski discovered chloroplasts with an electron microscope.

“ **Chloro **” means “green” in biology terms. The chloroplast is a green structure, which also makes the plant cell green. “ **-plast **” means a mix of “living substance”, “organelle”, and “cell”. The chloroplast is an organelle that is in the plant cell, which is a living substance. || ||
 * **__ The Chloroplast __**

Plants have the ability to conduct photosynthesis, which is one of the most important characteristics of plants.

The function of chloroplasts is **to carry out this process in plant cells and some protists such as algae. **

Chloroplasts are mainly in **plant cells ** because without chloroplasts, plants would not be able to conduct photosynthesis. This would make the plant die because it would not get the energy from the sun that it needs.

Chloroplasts are also in some **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">protists **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> because some prokaryotes are photosynthetic such as cyanobacteria.

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Chloroplasts are **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">not in animal cells **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> because animals obtain energy through different organelles instead of the chloroplast. <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Animal cells use mitochondria to convert energy into food, while plant cells use chloroplasts to convert light into energy through photosynthesis.

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Plants that actively conduct photosynthesis require large numbers of chloroplasts. This is because chloroplasts conduct the photosynthesis for the plant to stay alive, and the more chloroplasts the plant cell has, the more it can photosynthesize. <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In a typical photosynthetic leaf cell, there are about **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">100 chloroplasts **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> in each cell. Whereas in an algae cell, there is only **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">one chloroplast **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. || ||
 * __** Photosynthesis **__ <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">- the process by which a plant uses the energy from the light of the sun to make its own food.

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Plants make their own food **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">by converting light energy into chemical energy **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">.

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The photosynthesis depends on the green molecules called **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">chlorophyll **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> in each chloroplast. This converts light energy of the sun into sugars that can be used by the cell. || || // General Structure //
 * __** Anatomy of the Chloroplast **__


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Outer membrane ** - smooth outermost membrane of chloroplast that is freely permeable to molecules
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Intermembrane space ** - the region between the inner membrane and the outer membrane a chloroplast
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Inner membrane ** - the membrane which separates the chloroplast stroma from the intermembrane space.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Stromal lamellae ** - keeps all of the stacks of thylakoid sacs a safe distance from each other and maximizing the efficiency of the organelle.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Lumen ** - the chloroplast compartment bounded by the thylakoid membranes.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Thylakoid ** - membrane-bound compartment inside chloroplasts
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Stroma ** - colorless fluid surrounding the grana within the chloroplast.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Starch/sugar ** - acts as the cell’s energy storage, and is a product of photosynthesis.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Granum ** - stacks of thylakoids. One thylakoid stack is called a granum.

**// Specialized Structure //**
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Unlike many organelles, chloroplasts have **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">two membranes **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">: the outer membrane and the inner membrane.

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The products of photosynthesis are used by the chloroplast to produce many **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">organic molecules **<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. || ||
 * __** Analogy of the Chloroplast **__


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Solar Panels: House **

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Both solar panels and chloroplasts capture and store energy from the sun for the house and cell.


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Chloroplasts: Cell **

====<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Like chloroplasts, solar panels convert sun energy into energy that the house (or the cell) can use. ====

__<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Chloroplasts are the solar panels of the cell. __ || ||
 * ====__** Mitochondrion VS. Chloroplasts **__====

They have similar enzymes
|| ||
 * ====**__ Chloroplast Review __**====

====Chloroplasts are organelles that are in plant cells. Their main role is to conduct photosynthesis in the cell, which is where chlorophyll in the cell captures energy from the sun and stores it. Cells need this to stay alive.==== || ||

__** Sources: **__
 * Brittanica
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