The synthesis by organisms of organic chemical compounds, especially carbohydrates, from carbon dioxide (CO2) using energy obtained from light rather than from the oxidation of chemical compounds.

A chlorophyll-containing plastid with thylakoids organized into grana and frets, or stroma thylakoids, and embedded in a stroma.

Sac-like membranous structures (cisternae) in a chloroplast combined into stacks (grana) and present singly in the stroma (stroma thylakoids or frets) as interconnections between grana. An example of this component is found in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The pigmented membrane of a chloroplast thylakoid. An example of this component is found in Arabidopsis thaliana.

A membranous cellular structure that bears the photosynthetic pigments in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. In cyanobacteria thylakoids are of various shapes and are attached to, or continuous with, the plasma membrane. In eukaryotes they are flattened, membrane-bounded disk-like structures located in the chloroplasts; in the chloroplasts of higher plants the thylakoids form dense stacks called grana. Isolated thylakoid preparations can carry out photosynthetic electron transport and the associated phosphorylation.

The double lipid bilayer enclosing the chloroplast and separating its contents from the rest of the cytoplasm; includes the intermembrane space.

A lipoprotein particle present in chloroplasts. They are rich in non-polar lipids (triglycerides, esters) as well as in prenylquinones, plastoquinone and tocopherols. Plastoglobules are often associated with thylakoid membranes, suggesting an exchange of lipids with thylakoids.

A lipid bilayer along with all the proteins and protein complexes embedded in it an attached to it.

A protein complex located in the plasma membrane-derived thylakoid. The photosystem functions as a light-dependent plastocyanin-ferredoxin oxidoreductase, transferring electrons from plastocyanin to ferredoxin. Examples of this complex are found in bacterial species.

A chlorophyll-containing plastid with thylakoids organized into grana and frets, or stroma thylakoids, and embedded in a stroma.