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chloroplast
[ klawr-uh-plast, klohr- ]
chloroplast
/ ˈklɔːrəʊˌplæst /
noun
- a plastid containing chlorophyll and other pigments, occurring in plants and algae that carry out photosynthesis
chloroplast
/ klôr′ə-plăst′ /
- A plastid in the cells of green plants and green algae that contains chlorophylls and carotenoid pigments and creates glucose through photosynthesis. In plants, chloroplasts are usually disk-shaped and can reorient themselves in the cell to vary their exposure to sunlight. Chloroplasts contain the saclike membranes known as thylakoids , which contain the chlorophyll and are arranged in stacklike structures known as grana. Besides conducting photosynthesis, plant chloroplasts store starch and are involved in amino acid synthesis. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts have their own DNA that is different from the DNA in the nucleus, and chloroplasts are therefore believed to have evolved from symbiont bacteria, their DNA being a remnant of their past existence as independent organisms.
- See more at cell
Derived Forms
- ˌchloroˈplastic, adjective
Other Words From
- chloro·plastic adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of chloroplast1
Compare Meanings
How does chloroplast compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
In that case, these outer cells should be equipped with green chloroplasts, the organs used for photosynthesis—after all, this is where the most sunlight falls.
These animals can take the green sunlight-trapping energy factories called chloroplasts from algae.
The plants seemed to have simply ditched their entire chloroplast genome.
The grazing slugs can keep the chloroplasts alive for weeks or months.
What might help Elysia slugs manage such extreme regrowth is their ability to steal the tiny green sunlight-trapping energy factories called chloroplasts from plants, the researchers muse.
In each assimilating cell there is usually a single large chloroplast.
The large chloroplast in each half is composed of six longitudinal plates, united at the axis of the cell.
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