Partners in crime I – chloroplasts and mitochondria

Partners in crime I – chloroplasts and mitochondria

Odra Noel  

Chloroplasts are found in the cells of plants that conduct photosynthesis. They absorb sunlight and use it along with water and carbon dioxide gas (CO2) to produce food for the plant.

Chloroplasts are the magic making masters. Inside the chloroplast, the pigment chlorophyll seems to turn light into matter, in fact using the energy of sunlight to make organic molecules. Chloroplasts were free-living cyanobacteria once.

Mitochondria generate the energy that cells need to function. The energy made by the mitochondria is in the form of a chemical called adenosine triphosphate or ATP.

Mitchell’s equation II

Mitchell’s equation II

Odra Noel  

This work belongs to the Mitchell’s dream series, inspired by the Chemiosmotic hypothesis that penetrates all biology. The Nobel prize winning British biochemist Peter Mitchell first published his ideas on the proton motive force in Nature in 1961. The equations here suggest the mitochondrial network.

Mitchell’s equation I

Mitchell’s equation I

Odra Noel  

This work belongs to the Mitchell’s dream series, inspired by the Chemiosmotic hypothesis that penetrates all biology. The Nobel prize winning British biochemist Peter Mitchell first published his ideas on the proton motive force in Nature in 1961. The equations here suggest the mitochondrial network.

Erich Gnaiger wrote a short paper inspired by these images. You can read it here.

Light wall – moss leaf

Light wall – moss leaf

Odra Noel  

This image shows the leaf of a wall moss under the microscope. A wall moss is a small flowerless plant that grows in a dense green clump. The individual plants are usually composed of simple, one-cell thick leaves, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients.

Euglena in red

Euglena in red

Odra Noel  

Euglena is a type of single-celled flagellate Eukaryote, they are found in fresh and salt waters where they may bloom in large numbers and colour the surface of ponds and ditches green (E. viridis) or red (E. sanguinea).

Euglena are frequently used in the laboratory as a model organisms.

Euglena in green

Euglena in green

Odra Noel  

Euglena is a type of single-celled flagellate Eukaryote, they are found in fresh and salt waters where they may bloom in large numbers and colour the surface of ponds and ditches green (E. viridis) or red (E. sanguinea).

Euglena are frequently used in the laboratory as a model organisms.

Chlamydomonas

Chlamydomonas

Odra Noel  

Chlamydomonas is a type of green algae made up of unicellular flagellates. This type of algae is found in stagnant water, on damp soil, in freshwater and in seawater. It has sometimes also been found in snow. It is frenquently used as a model organism in molecular biology.

This work belongs to a series created in memory of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist who made powerful microscopes. He was the first man to see these microbes and to write about them.

 

Spirogyra and company

Spirogyra and company

Odra Noel  

Spirogyra is a type of green algae of the Zygnemataceae family. It is named for its spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts. It is commonly found in freshwater areas.

This work belongs to a series created in memory of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist who made powerful microscopes. He was the first man to see these microbes and to write about them.