Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A digestive tubule cell of the sea slug Elysia clarki, packed with chloroplasts taken from green algae. C = chloroplast, N = cell nucleus. Electron micrograph: scale bar is 3 μm. Kleptoplasty or kleptoplastidy is a process in symbiotic relationships whereby plastids, notably chloroplasts from algae, are sequestered by the host
Chloroplasts, containing thylakoids, visible in the cells of Rosulabryum capillare, a type of moss. A chloroplast (/ ˈ k l ɔːr ə ˌ p l æ s t,-p l ɑː s t /) [1] [2] is a type of organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells.
In the related process of kleptoplasty, the predator sequesters plastids (especially chloroplasts) from dietary algae. The chloroplasts can still photosynthesize, but do not last long after the prey's cells are metabolised. If the predator can also sequester cell nuclei from the prey to encode proteins for the plastids, it can sustain them.
The perspective that cryptomonads are primitively heterotrophic and secondarily acquired chloroplasts, is supported by molecular evidence. [16] Parfrey et al. and Burki et al. placed Cryptophyceae as a sister clade to the Green Algae , [ 17 ] or green algae plus glaucophytes . [ 18 ]
Chloroplasts are diverse in morphology and include many forms, including, cup-shaped (e.g. Chlamydomonas), or axial, or parietal and reticulate (e.g. Oedogonium). [2] In many species, there may be one or more storage bodies called pyrenoids (central proteinaceous body covered with a starch sheath) that are localised around the chloroplast. [5]
The term is composed of klepto-, from the Ancient Greek κλέπτω (kléptō) meaning "to steal", [5] [6] and -type referring to type specimens. It translates to "stolen type". It translates to "stolen type".
The origin of the chloroplasts from green algae is supported by their pigmentation, which includes chlorophylls a and b, and by genetic similarities. The only other groups of algae that contain nucleomorphs are a few species of dinoflagellates , which also have plastids originating from green algae, [ 6 ] and the cryptomonads , which acquired ...
Their chloroplasts contain the green photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll-a and -b. In ideal conditions cells of Chlorella multiply rapidly, requiring only carbon dioxide , water , sunlight , and a small amount of minerals to reproduce.