A chloroplast 

/ˈklɔːrəˌplæst, -plɑːst/[1][2] is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as

a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic
pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in the
energy-storage molecules ATP and NADPH while freeing oxygen from water in the cells.
The ATP and NADPH is then used to make organic molecules from carbon dioxide in a
process known as the Calvin cycle. Chloroplasts carry out a number of other functions,
including fatty acid synthesis, much amino acid synthesis, and the immune response in
plants. The number of chloroplasts per cell varies from one, in unicellular algae, up to 100 in
plants like Arabidopsis and wheat.
A chloroplast is characterized by its two membranes and a high concentration
of chlorophyll. Other plastid types, such as the leucoplast and the chromoplast, contain little
chlorophyll and do not carry out photosynthesis.
Chloroplasts are highly dynamic—they circulate and are moved around within plant cells,
and occasionally pinch in two to reproduce. Their behavior is strongly influenced by
environmental factors like light color and intensity. Chloroplasts, like mitochondria, contain
their own DNA, which is thought to be inherited from their ancestor—a
photosynthetic cyanobacterium that was engulfed by an early eukaryotic cell.[3] Chloroplasts
cannot be made by the plant cell and must be inherited by each daughter cell during cell
division.
With one exception (the amoeboid Paulinella chromatophora), all chloroplasts can probably
be traced back to a single endosymbiotic event, when a cyanobacterium was engulfed by
the eukaryote. Despite this, chloroplasts can be found in an extremely wide set of
organisms, some not even directly related to each other—a consequence of
many secondary and even tertiary endosymbiotic events.
The word chloroplast is derived from the Greek words chloros (χλωρός), which means
green, and plastes (πλάστης), which means "the one who forms".[4]

Contents

 1Discovery
 2Lineages and evolution
o 2.1Parent group: Cyanobacteria
o 2.2Primary endosymbiosis
o 2.3Secondary and tertiary endosymbiosis
o 2.4Kleptoplastidy
 3Chloroplast DNA
o 3.1Molecular structure
o 3.2DNA repair
o 3.3DNA replication
o 3.4Gene content and protein synthesis
o 3.5Protein targeting and import
 4Structure
o 4.1Outer chloroplast membrane
 o 4.2Intermembrane space and peptidoglycan wall
o 4.3Inner chloroplast membrane
o 4.4Stroma
o 4.5Pyrenoids
o 4.6Thylakoid system
o 4.7Specialized chloroplasts in C4 plants
 5Location
o 5.1Distribution in a plant
o 5.2Cellular location
 6Function and chemistry
o 6.1Guard cell chloroplasts
o 6.2Plant innate immunity
o 6.3Photosynthesis
o 6.4pH
o 6.5Amino acid synthesis
o 6.6Other nitrogen compounds
o 6.7Other chemical products
 7Differentiation, replication, and inheritance
o 7.1Plastid interconversion
o 7.2Division
o 7.3Chloroplast inheritance
 8References
 9External links

Discovery
The first definitive description of a chloroplast (Chlorophyllkörnen, "grain of chlorophyll")
was given by Hugo von Mohl in 1837 as discrete bodies within the green plant cell.[5] In
1883, Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper would name these bodies as "chloroplastids"
(Chloroplastiden).[6] In 1884, Eduard Strasburger adopted the term "chloroplasts"
(Chloroplasten).[7][8][9]

Lineages and evolution

Chloroplasts are one of many types of organelles in