What Pigment Makes Plants Green?

Plants get their green coloring from a pigment known as chlorophyll. This pigment makes life possible for plants by converting the sun's energy into nutrients the plants need for their growth and survival.

Description

• Chlorophyll absorbs particular frequencies of sunlight, which results in the plants appearing green to our eyes. Chlorophyll's structure, a ring-shaped molecule called a porphyrin, allows the pigment to gain or shed electrons as a means of transferring energy.

Purpose

• Chlorophyll's ability to transfer energy from one molecule to another gives plant molecules the power they need to produce sugars that support biological functions. Plants use this process, known as photosynthesis, to convert sunlight into food.

Types

• Chlorophyll exists in different forms known as chlorophyll a, b, c and d. While all life forms that rely on photosynthesis, including some bacteria, make use of the chlorophyll a molecule, chlorophyll b exists only in green algae and plants of the Plantae family. Kelp and tiny creatures called dinoflagellates also use chlorophyll c. Chlorophyll d occurs only in red algae.