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BookmarkChloroplasts are organelles found in plant cells and eukaryotic algae that conduct photosynthesis.
Chloroplasts absorb sunlight and use it in conjunction with water and carbon dioxide gas to produce food for the plant.
Chloroplasts capture light energy from the sun to produce the free energy stored in ATP and NADPH through a process called photosynthesis.
Chloroplasts are one of the many unique cells in the body, and are generally considered to have originated as endosymbiotic cyanobacteria.
In this respect they are similar to mitochondria, but are found only in plants and protista.
Both organelles are surrounded by a double celled composite membrane with an intermembrane space; both have their own DNA and are involved in energy metabolism; and both have reticulations, or many infoldings, filling their inner spaces..
For more information about the topic Chloroplast, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Organelle — In cell biology, an organelle is one of several structures with specialized functions, suspended in the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell. Eukaryotes ... > read more
Plant cell — There are three major classes of plant cells that can then differentiate to form the tissue structures of roots, stems, and leaves. (The three ... > read more
Photosynthesis — Photosynthesis, generally, is the synthesis of sugar from light, carbon dioxide and water, with oxygen as a waste product. It is arguably the most ... > read more
