Thursday, February 18, 2010

Chloroplast

Chloroplasts 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 inter membrane space; both have their own DNA and are involved in energy metabolism; and both have reticulations, or many enfolding, filling their inner spaces.