#plastids

New way to kill the environment . . . plastics

-- membrane-bound organelle

-- found in plants, algae, and some other eukaryotic organisms

-- discovered by Ernst Haeckel

-- defined by A. F. W. Schimper

-- manufacture and store important chemical compounds

-- often contain pigments used in photosynthesis

-- type of pigment determines cell color

-- have double-stranded DNA molecule

Solar powered sea slugs shed light on search for perpetual green energy

In an amazing achievement akin to adding solar panels to your body, a Northeast sea slug sucks raw materials from algae to provide its lifetime supply of solar-powered energy, according to a study by Rutgers University-New Brunswick and other scientists.

"It's a remarkable feat because it's highly unusual for an animal to behave like a plant and survive solely on photosynthesis," said Debashish Bhattacharya, senior author of the study and distinguished professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at Rutgers-New Brunswick. "The broader implication is in the field of artificial photosynthesis. That is, if we can figure out how the slug maintains stolen, isolated plastids to fix carbon without the plant nucleus, then maybe we can also harness isolated plastids for eternity as green machines to create bioproducts or energy. The existing paradigm is that to make green energy, we need the plant or alga to run the photosynthetic organelle, but the slug shows us that this does not have to be the case."

The sea slug, Elysia chlorotica, steals millions of green-colored plastids, which are like tiny solar panels, from algae.Credit: Karen N. Pelletreau/University of Maine

Plastid Definition

Plastids are double-membrane organelles found in plant cells and some protists. They are responsible for functions like photosynthesis (chloroplasts), storage (leucoplasts), and pigment synthesis (chromoplasts).

The plastid is a membrane-bound organelle that is present in the cells of plants, algae, and certain other eukaryotic creatures. The Greek word for plastid is plastós, which means "formed, molded" (plural "plastids").

These cyanobacteria are thought to be intracellular endosymbiotic. Examples include leucoplasts (non-pigmented plastids that can occasionally differentiate), chromoplasts (used for pigment production and storage), and chloroplasts (used for photosynthesis). Around 1.5 billion years ago, a cyanobiont (symbiotic cyanobacteria) belonging to the genus Gloeomargarita most likely had a role that resulted in permanent endosymbiosis in the Archaeplastida clade (including land plants, red algae, and green algae).

About 90–140 million years ago, photosynthetic Paulinella amoeboids had a later main endosymbiosis event. In the cells of algae, plants, and numerous other eukaryotic species, the plastid serves as a membrane-bound organelle. Plastids were discovered and named by E. Haeckel, but A. F. W. Schimper was the first to give them a clear description.

Plastids create and store crucial chemical compounds used by autotrophic eukaryotic cells. The types of pigments found in plastids, which are utilized in photosynthesis, define the color of the cell.

They have a common evolutionary ancestor and have a circular double-stranded DNA molecule with prokaryotic organisms. Another significant energy-transmitting cell organelle that is unique to plants is the plastid. Schimper gave these photosynthesis-related structures the name Plastids.

Chloroplasts are the sole organelles in all other living organisms that are capable of absorbing, converting, and conserving solar energy in the form of chemical energy. In actuality, photosynthesis either directly or indirectly transports chemical energy.

Plastids, which can be either colorless plastids, colored plastids, or proplastids, are present in nearly all cells in the plant body. The "PS-clade" (of the algae genera Prochlorococcus or Synechococcus) includes this plastid.

Many other species have also experienced secondary and tertiary endosymbiosis. Some organisms can sequester ingested plastids through a process known as kleptoplasty.

Plastids were originally identified and precisely defined by A. F. W. Schimper. The types of pigments found in plastids, which are employed in photosynthesis, define the color of the cell.

Additionally, they serve as the location of the production and storage of crucial chemicals utilized by autotrophic eukaryotic cells.

Plastids in Plant Cells: Definition, Types, and Their Role

Chloroplasts are plastids that have chlorophyll and can perform photosynthesis. Additionally, plastids may create fatty acids and terpenes, which can be employed as a starting point for the production of other compounds as well as collect products like starch.

For instance, palmitic acid, which is produced in the chloroplasts of the mesophyll tissue, is used by the epidermal cells to create the components of the plant cuticle and the epicuticular wax. Proplastids, which are present in the meristematic areas of the plant, are the ancestors of all plastids.

Though more mature chloroplasts may also do this, proplastids and juvenile chloroplasts often split through binary fission.

Depending on the role they serve in the cell, plasmids can take on a variety of different shapes.

The following variations may emerge from identical plastids (proplastids):

Green plastids used in photosynthesis are called chloroplasts.

Chromoplasts pigment production and storage in colored plastids.

During plant senescence, protoplasts control how the photosynthetic system is broken down.

Leucoplasts are colorless plastids that combine monoterpenes; they can occasionally develop into other, more specialized plastids.

Amyloplasts are capable of storing starch and recognizing gravity (for geotropism).

Elaioplasts are used to store fat.

Proteinoplasts are used to store and modify proteins.

Tannosomes are for producing and synthesizing polyphenols and tannins.

Plastids can distinguish or redifferentiate between these and other forms based on their morphology and function.

A 75–250 kilobase circular plastome is produced in several copies by each plastid. The number of genome copies per plastid varies; it can be over 1000 in rapidly proliferating cells, which typically include few plastids, or it can be 100 or less in mature cells, where plastid separations have resulted in a large number of plastids.

A hundred or so genes make proteins that regulate photosynthesis, plastid gene transcription and translation, ribosomal and transfer ribonucleic acids (rRNAs and tRNAs), and other biological processes in the plastome.

However, these proteins only make up a small portion of the overall protein configuration required to create and maintain the structure and functionality of a certain kind of plastid. The vast majority of plastid proteins are converted by nuclear genes in plants, and the expression of plastid and nuclear genes is tightly controlled to govern the appropriate development of plastids in connection to cell differentiation.

The term "plastid nucleoids" refers to the massive protein-DNA complexes that are connected with the internal envelope membrane and contain plastid DNA. More than 10 copies of the plasmid DNA may be covered by a single nucleoid particle.

A specific nucleoid that is found in the plastid's center is present in the proplastid. Proplastids transform into chloroplasts, plastids switch from one kind to another, and nucleoids alter in shape, size, and placement inside the organelle.

It is thought that changes to the content and abundance of nucleoid proteins cause nucleoids to remodel. Several plastids, namely those involved in photosynthesis, have several interior membrane layers.

Structure

All green plastids, and all other plastids for that matter, are enclosed by two-unit membranes, with the outer and inner membranes being 7 nm thick and the periplastid gap between them being 8–10 nm thick.

The inner membrane of fully formed plastids does not exhibit any inward foldings, unlike mitochondria, although it participates actively in the transformation of proplastids becoming mature plastids.