Chloroplasts

Done by: Whelan

We know that what chloroplasts in plant cells are and its useful function for
the plant. But what is the origin of this organelle?

During 1771, scientist Joseph Priestley discovered photosynthesis. He said

in a quote that photosynthesis is "a method of restoring air which has been
injured by the burning of candles.” In 1779, a Dutch physician, J. Ingen-
housz, found that only green parts of plants could carry out photosynthesis.

It was only decades later, botanist Julius von Sachs used the
microscope, and finally found where the starch was made in
the plant- the chloroplast.

Chloroplasts are
organelles present in plant cells.
Chloroplasts are the most important
plastids found in plant cells. It is the
structure in a green plant cell in
which photosynthesis occurs.

The chloroplast is one of the three

types of plastids. The chloroplasts
take part in the process of photosynthesis and it is of great biological
importance. Animal cells do not have chloroplasts. All green plants take part
in the process of photosynthesis which converts energy into sugars and the
byproduct of the process is oxygen. This process happens in chloroplasts.

The word chloroplast is derived from the

Greek words, “chloros" meaning "green"
and "plastes" meaning "the one who
forms". The chloroplasts are cellular
organelles of green plants and some
eukaryotic organisms. These organelles
conduct photosynthesis. They absorb
sunlight and convert it into sugar
molecules and also produce free energy stored in the form of ATP and
NADPH through photosynthesis. Chloroplasts are unique organelles and are
said to have originated as endosymbiotic bacteria.
The most important function of the chloroplast is to make food by the
process of photosynthesis. Food is prepared in the form of sugars. During
the process of photosynthesis, sugar and oxygen are made using light
energy, water, and carbon dioxide.

In conclusion, the chloroplasts are parts of a plant cell that contain

chlorophyll that traps light to make food during photosynthesis.

Sources: http://jcb.rupress.org/content/91/3/256s.full.pdf

https://www.reference.com/science/discovered-chloroplast-72cc9656ebbfd452

http://www.gondar.co.uk/biology/chloroplasts.html

http://www.isc.rit.edu/~has7647/chloroplasts.html

http://biology.tutorvista.com/animal-and-plant-cells/chloroplasts.html