Article
Article
Chlorophyll
Article By:
Govindjee Department of Plant Biology, Department of Biochemistry, and Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
Porra, Robert J. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, Australia.
Papageorgiou, George Department of Botany, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
Last reviewed:June 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.132200
Show previous versions
- Chlorophyll, published June 2014:Download PDF
Get Adobe Acrobat Reader
The generic name for any of the intensely green, blue, or purple pigments found in higher plants, algae, and photosynthetic bacteria that are an integral part of photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is the name given to any member of a group of important pigments that serve as photoreceptors and transducers of light energy to chemical energy in photosynthesis. In terms of chemical structure, chlorophyll pigments are tetrapyrroles (in which four pyrrole rings are joined; note that a pyrrole is one of a group of organic compounds containing a doubly unsaturated five-membered ring in which nitrogen occupies one of the ring positions) [Fig. 1]. See also: Algae; Bacteria; Chlorophycota; Cyanobacteria; Light; Photoreception; Photosynthesis; Plant; Plant anatomy; Plant physiology; Plant pigment; Pyrrole
The content above is only an excerpt.
About AccessScience
AccessScience provides the most accurate and trustworthy scientific information available.
Recognized as an award-winning gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is an amazing online resource that contains high-quality reference material written specifically for students. Contributors include more than 10,000 highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners.
MORE THAN 8700 articles covering all major scientific disciplines and encompassing the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology
115,000-PLUS definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
3000 biographies of notable scientific figures
MORE THAN 19,000 downloadable images and animations illustrating key topics
ENGAGING VIDEOS highlighting the life and work of award-winning scientists
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY and additional readings to guide students to deeper understanding and research
LINKS TO CITABLE LITERATURE help students expand their knowledge using primary sources of information
