Amyloplasts and Chloroplasts

1. Amyloplasts and Chloroplasts By Lindsey Leetham, Sydney Saunders, Riley Currie, and Alice Leask

2. What are Amyloplasts? • Amyloplasts are small organelles that are found only in plant cells • Though they are colorless and not very well known, they play an important role for plants • They appear as small round pockets filled with little bubbles Image:

3. What do Amyloplasts do? • Amyloplasts are responsible for storing starch granules as well as converting the starch they store into sugar when a plant needs energy. • They store the starch by polymerization of glucose • Overall, they are responsible for giving plants energy.

4. Fun Facts about Amyloplasts! • Amyloplasts can turn into chloroplasts • They are almost always found in fruits or in the skin of tubers, such as potatoes or carrots

5. Now on to Chloroplasts!

6. What are Chloroplasts? • Like amyloplasts, chloroplasts are organelles that are found only in plant cells • They are filled with the chemical chlorophyll • They are filled with green pigments, and that’s what gives plants their color!

7. What do Chloroplasts do? • Chloroplasts are responsible for helping their mother plant photosynthesize • The chlorophyll in the chloroplasts help trap the suns energy and make sugar so the plant can have energy and grow.

8. What do Chloroplasts look like? • Chloroplasts appear as small stacks of coins • The “coins” are actually flat, membrane-covered sacs that store chlorophyll • They look green because of the pigments in chlorophyll Image:

9. Similarities and Differences Chloroplasts Amyloplasts Both *Help plants photosynthesize *Filled with chlorophyll *green colored, look like stacks of coins *found in nearly every plant *Convert starch to sugar *No color *Found in fruits and tubers *Only found in plant cells *Help give plants energy *Are organelles

10. Thanks for Watching!