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Chlorophyll: Plants
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Chlorophyll is the major light-absorbing pigment in green plants. It is located within the membrane of the chloroplasts, which are small, green organelles found in plant cells. Chlorophyll is a large molecule composed of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and magnesium coordinated with four central nitrogen atoms. It functions to initiate photosynthesis, a complex biochemical pathway in which solar energy is used to convert water and carbon dioxide to glucose and other carbohydrates.
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Chlorophyll is the green pigment in all plants. Chlorophyll a is the most common type of chlorophyll. Plants use chlorophyll to capture sunlight for photosynthesis. Plants may use pigments other than chlorophyll for photosynthesis but chlorophyll is the most common. Chlorophyll a is measured to estimate the abundance of phytoplankton in the water. More chlorophyll a indicates that there are more phytoplankton present.
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Chlorophyll's central role in photosynthesis is harvesting light energy and its conversion to chemical energy. All land plants, green algae, and prochlorophytes possess chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. Chlorophyll a alone occurs in the core complexes of photosystems whose composition and organization are highly conserved. On the other hand, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b are components of peripheral antenna complexes. Antenna complexes show controlled changes in adapting to various growth conditions, enabling optimal utilization of available light (1). It is known that the chlorophyll a to b ratio is higher in high-light growth conditions than in low-light growth conditions, which is accompanied by larger sizes of antenna complexes in low-light conditions (2). Thus the regulation of chlorophyll b synthesis is important for understanding the mechanisms of adaptation of plants to various light intensity.
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Chlorophyll a is a green pigment found in plants. It absorbs sunlight and converts it to sugar during photosynthesis. Chlorophyll a concentrations are an indicator of phytoplankton abundance and biomass in coastal and estuarine waters. They can be an effective measure of trophic status, are potential indicators of maximum photosynthetic rate and are a commonly used measure of water quality. High levels often indicate poor water quality and low levels often suggest good conditions. However, elevated chlorophyll a concentrations are not necessarily a bad thing.
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Chlorophyll is a common indicator of phytoplankton biomass. All green plants contain chlorophyll "a" and, for planktonic algae, it constitutes about 1 to 2% of the dry weight. Other pigments that occur in plankton algae are chlorophyll "b" and "c", xanthophylls, and carotenes. The presence or absence of various pigments is used, among other features, to separate the major algal groups.
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Chlorophyll is present in all plants, even though the content may vary depending on species, plant parts or growth stage. Chlorophyll is abundant in leafy vegetables and generally to a lesser extent in fruits. For example in spinach, chlorophyll can be as high as 1% on a dry weight basis.
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