NOTES 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
 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.

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.