- Plant cells produce food from light energy and help maintain the structure of the plant body.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Plants are the only living organisms able to manufacture their own food source. Using specialized cell structures, plants can synthesize inorganic materials, such as water, light and carbon dioxide, into carbohydrate forms. Plant cell activities involve chemical reactions that take place along leaf surfaces. - Light absorption activities are responsible for photosynthesis, the process where light energy is converted into carbohydrate forms, according to Florida State University. Photosynthesis takes place inside the cells that line leaf surfaces. These cells contain specialized pigment materials, known as chlorophyll, that capture light energy. Chlorophyll materials exist inside a specialized thylakoid membrane, which surrounds chloroplast structures. Chloroplasts are cell organelles or compartments contained inside individual cell structures. The thylakoid membranes that surround chloroplast cells hold stacks or packs of chlorophyll pigment, each arranged within a photosystem grouping. Photosystems are designed to capture specific light wavelengths that contain different amounts of light energy.
- Photosynthesis and cellular respiration processes perform the energy conversion activities that produce food for plant cells and tissues. According to Florida State University, plant cells manufacture glucose molecules from the light energy absorbed during photosynthesis processes. Cells store this light energy inside ATP or adenosine triphosphate molecules, which act as fuel for the cell. Cellular respiration processes involve plant cells using, or "burning," ATP molecules in order to create the carbohydrate material, glucose. Energy conversion takes place in two stages, known as the light reaction (photosynthesis) and the dark reaction (cellular respiration). The light reaction occurs when leaves absorb available light rays. The dark reaction uses the energy from the light reaction to combine carbon dioxide gases with ATP and another molecule known as NADPH. This process is known as the Calvin Cycle, which captures the carbon energy contained in carbon dioxide and uses it to manufacture food or glucose for the plant.
- Water storage activities are another essential feature of plant cells. According to Florida State University, the amount of water contained inside cells and tissues affects the plant's ability to maintain its structure and also provides needed water for photosynthesis processes. Plant cells store water inside membrane-bound sacs known as vacuoles. Vacuoles reside within the cytoplasm liquid, which acts as a filler that separates individual cell structures or organelles. Vacuole sacs take up a substantial amount of cell space and can comprise 80 percent or more of a cell's total interior. In effect, vacuoles help cells and tissues maintain a certain amount of pressure inside cells and between adjacent cells. This pressure also plays a role in regulating what materials move in and out of cells, which affects overall metabolism and waste disposal processes.
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