Editing Plastid (section)

===Chloroplasts, proplastids, and differentiation===
In [[Embryophyte|land plants]], the plastids that contain [[chlorophyll]] can perform [[photosynthesis]], thereby creating internal chemical energy from external [[light energy|sunlight energy]] while capturing carbon from Earth's atmosphere and furnishing the atmosphere with life-giving oxygen. These are the ''chlorophyll-plastids''{{mdash}}and they are named [[chloroplasts]]; (see top graphic).

Other plastids can synthesize [[fatty acids]] and [[terpenes]], which may be used to produce energy or as raw material to synthesize other molecules. For example, plastid [[epidermal cells]] manufacture the components of the tissue system known as [[plant cuticle]], including its [[epicuticular wax]], from [[palmitic acid]]{{mdash}}which itself is synthesized in the chloroplasts of the [[mesophyll tissue]]. Plastids function to store different components including [[starch]]es, [[fat]]s, and [[protein]]s.<ref name=Kolattukudy>Kolattukudy, P.E. (1996) "Biosynthetic pathways of cutin and waxes, and their sensitivity to environmental stresses", pp. 83–108 in: ''Plant Cuticles''. G. Kerstiens (ed.), BIOS Scientific publishers Ltd., Oxford</ref>

All plastids are derived from proplastids, which are present in the [[meristem]]atic regions of the plant. Proplastids and young chloroplasts typically divide by [[binary fission]], but more mature chloroplasts also have this capacity.

Plant ''proplastids'' (undifferentiated plastids) may [[cellular differentiation|differentiate]] into several forms, depending upon which function they perform in the cell, (see top graphic). They may develop into any of the following variants:<ref name=wise>{{cite book |last=Wise |first=Robert R. |title=The Structure and Function of Plastids |chapter=The Diversity of Plastid Form and Function |series=Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration |publisher=Springer |date=2006 |volume=23 |pages=3–26 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-4061-0_1 |isbn=978-1-4020-4060-3 }}</ref>
* [[Chloroplast]]s: typically green plastids that perform [[photosynthesis]]. 
** [[Etioplast]]s: precursors of chloroplasts.
* [[Chromoplast]]s: coloured plastids that synthesize and store pigments.
* [[Gerontoplast]]s: plastids that control the dismantling of the photosynthetic apparatus during [[plant senescence]].
* [[Leucoplast]]s: colourless plastids that synthesize [[terpene|monoterpene]]s.
Leucoplasts differentiate into even more specialized plastids, such as:
* the [[leucoplasts#Background|aleuroplasts]];
** [[Amyloplast]]s: storing [[starch]] and detecting [[gravity]]{{mdash}}for maintaining [[Gravitropism#Gravity-sensing mechanisms|geotropism]].
** [[Elaioplast]]s: storing [[fat]]s.
** [[Proteinoplast]]s: storing and modifying [[protein]].
* or [[Tannosome]]s: synthesizing and producing [[tannin]]s and [[polyphenols]].

Depending on their morphology and target function, plastids have the ability to differentiate or redifferentiate between these and other forms.