chloroplast

[ klawr-uh-plast, klohr- ]

noun

, Botany.

1. a plastid containing chlorophyll.

chloroplast

/ ˈklɔːrəʊˌplæst /

noun

1. a plastid containing chlorophyll and other pigments, occurring in plants and algae that carry out photosynthesis

chloroplast

/ klôr′ə-plăst′ /

1. 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.
2. See more at cell

chloroplast

1. A chlorophyll-containing organelle found in algal and green plant cells .

Derived Forms

• ˌchloroˈplastic, adjective

Other Words From

• chloro·plastic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of chloroplast¹

First recorded in 1885–90; chloro(phyll) + -plast

Example Sentences

Its main source of energy is sunlight: similar to plants, it uses a structure known as a chloroplast to convert energy from sunlight into useable, chemical energy.

From Science Daily

Plant cells possess a whole host of specialized structures known as organelles, of which two particularly important ones are the chloroplasts and mitochondria.

From Science Daily

Previous evolutionary trees of plants built by scientists often used the genome of the chloroplast, the organelle that allows plants to perform photosynthesis.

From New York Times

Most past assessments of plant evolution have compared DNA from plants’ photosynthesizing organelles known as chloroplasts.

From Science Magazine

Unlike the plastid DNA often used to study plants, which is produced by structures called chloroplasts, the DNA from plant nuclei is especially useful for scientists trying to tease apart historical interactions between species.

From Science Daily