The Rate of Chloroplast Replication is Ligh Intensity Dependent in the Higher Plant Arabidopsis thaliana by Kelly Harradine Undergraduate Student of Biological Sciences Education gives you a foundation of knowledge that allows you to ask scientific questions, but research is where you answer them. The true excitement of college for me is getting the chance to apply the skills I have learned. This attitude is what motivated me to pursue a research opportunity. For the past two years I have participated in Judith Brusslan's Ph.D. lab. Her lab focuses on elucidating the molecular events involved in chloroplast development.
Chloroplasts are cellular organelles that are the sites of photosynthesis in plants and algae.
They are found abundantly in mesophyll cells which make up the green tissues in the interior of the leaf. Each mature mesophyll cell can contain up to two hundred chloroplasts. There are two forms of chlorophyll, a and b. Only chlorophyll a is found in the reaction center where it is involved in primary photochemistry. Consequently, the presence of chloroplasts greatly affects agricultural yields as well as global warming.