chloroplast

chloroplast, structure within the cells of plants and green algae that is the site of photosynthesis, the process by which light energy is converted to chemical energy, resulting in the production of oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria are free-living close relatives of chloroplasts; endosymbiotic theory posits that chloroplasts and mitochondria (energy-producing organelles in eukaryotic cells) are descended from such organisms.

Characteristics of chloroplasts

Chloroplasts are a type of plastid—a round, oval, or disk-shaped body that is involved in the synthesis and storage of foodstuffs. Chloroplasts are distinguished from other types of plastids by their green colour, which results from the presence of two pigments, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. A function of those pigments is to absorb light energy for the process of photosynthesis. Other pigments, such as carotenoids, are also present in chloroplasts and serve as accessory pigments, trapping solar energy and passing it to chlorophyll. In plants, chloroplasts occur in all green tissues, though they are concentrated particularly in the parenchyma cells of the leaf mesophyll.

Chloroplasts are roughly 1–2 μm (1 μm = 0.001 mm) thick and 5–7 μm in diameter. They are enclosed in a chloroplast envelope, which consists of a double membrane with outer and inner layers, between which is a gap called the intermembrane space. A third, internal membrane, extensively folded and characterized by the presence of closed disks (or thylakoids), is known as the thylakoid membrane. In most higher plants, the thylakoids are arranged in tight stacks called grana (singular granum). Grana are connected by stromal lamellae, extensions that run from one granum, through the stroma, into a neighbouring granum. The thylakoid membrane envelops a central aqueous region known as the thylakoid lumen. The space between the inner membrane and the thylakoid membrane is filled with stroma, a matrix containing dissolved enzymes, starch granules, and copies of the chloroplast genome.

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The photosynthetic machinery

The thylakoid membrane houses chlorophylls and different protein complexes, including photosystem I, photosystem II, and ATP (adenosine triphosphate) synthase, which are specialized for light-dependent photosynthesis. When sunlight strikes the thylakoids, the light energy excites chlorophyll pigments, causing them to give up electrons. The electrons then enter the electron transport chain, a series of reactions that ultimately drives the phosphorylation of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to the energy-rich storage compound ATP. Electron transport also results in the production of the reducing agent nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH).

ATP and NADPH are used in the light-independent reactions (dark reactions) of photosynthesis, in which carbon dioxide and water are assimilated into organic compounds. The light-independent reactions of photosynthesis are carried out in the chloroplast stroma, which contains the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rubisco). Rubisco catalyzes the first step of carbon fixation in the Calvin cycle (also called Calvin-Benson cycle), the primary pathway of carbon transport in plants. Among so-called C₄ plants, the initial carbon fixation step and the Calvin cycle are separated spatially—carbon fixation occurs via phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylation in chloroplasts located in the mesophyll, while malate, the four-carbon product of that process, is transported to chloroplasts in bundle-sheath cells, where the Calvin cycle is carried out. C₄ photosynthesis attempts to minimize the loss of carbon dioxide to photorespiration. In plants that use crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), PEP carboxylation and the Calvin cycle are separated temporally in chloroplasts, the former taking place at night and the latter during the day. The CAM pathway allows plants to carry out photosynthesis with minimal water loss.

Chloroplast genome and membrane transport

The chloroplast genome typically is circular (though linear forms have also been observed) and is roughly 120–200 kilobases in length. The modern chloroplast genome, however, is much reduced in size: over the course of evolution, increasing numbers of chloroplast genes have been transferred to the genome in the cell nucleus. As a result, proteins encoded by nuclear DNA have become essential to chloroplast function. Hence, the outer membrane of the chloroplast, which is freely permeable to small molecules, also contains transmembrane channels for the import of larger molecules, including nuclear-encoded proteins. The inner membrane is more restrictive, with transport limited to certain proteins (e.g., nuclear-encoded proteins) that are targeted for passage through transmembrane channels.