CHLOROPLASTS

What is a Chloroplast?

A chloroplast is an organelle unique to plant cells that contains chlorophyll (which is what makes plants green) and is responsible for enabling photosynthesis to occur, so that plants can convert sunlight into chemical energy. So basically, without chloroplasts, plants could not create energy, and without them, humans would have no food and we would perish, so thank you chloroplasts!

CHARACTERISTICS

• Chloroplasts are used for photosynthesis .
• They have a double membrane around them.
• The space inside is called the stroma. The space may contain starch grains and lipid bodies.
• In the stroma are structures called thylakoids.
• The thylakoids are stacked to form structures called grana.
• The grana contain the pigment chlorophyll along with some secondary pigments.

The function of chloroplasts is to convert sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into food for the plant. Chloroplasts are energy organelles, and are present in all types of plants.

WHERE ARE THEY FOUND?

Chloroplasts are found in plants and some protist organisms. Therefore they are present only in the Eukaryotic Cell

FUN FACT

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• The chloroplast is often termed as the 'energy factory' of the plant.
• Scientists estimate that there are around 500,000 chloroplasts in a single square milimeter of a leaf

REFERENCES

• http://www.buzzle.com/articles/chloroplast-facts.html
• https://www.reference.com/science/function-chloroplasts-313e00499e12afc3
• http://www.kscience.co.uk/as/module1/chloroplast.htm
• http://www.biologyreference.com/Ce-Co/Chloroplast.html