plastid

2 9.9

Small part inside plant cells that contains pigments and stores starch, oil or protein

noun
/ˈplæstɪd/

Specialized

: plastidio

In most crops, plastids are maternally inherited only and not transmitted via pollen.
plastid genes
plastid inheritance
plastid genome

Plants have a an extra small circular chromosome because they also have one in the chloroplasts and the other types of plastids.

Examples

The other mechanism for concentrating inorganic carbon around the plastid is the use of a C4 (four carbon intermediate) CCM.

Blog text (18)
To the known functions of microbodies, we can thus add the control of mitochondrial and plastid division, at least in certain organisms.

Academic text (1996)
A potential solution to this problem is to incorporate the gene into the plastid's genome.

Academic text (2001)
Raflezia's plastids, on the other hand, appear to have lost their DNA, and with it, the ability to photosynthesize.
Such preferential movement of plastids may furnish the key to understanding the mechanism of separation of organelles.

Academic text (1996)
Interestingly, their findings corresponded to two typical patterns of plastid genes: that is, maternal and biparental transmission without Mendelian ratios.

Academic text (1996)
Transferred sequences from organelle genomes are called nuclear mitochondrial transfers (numts) and nuclear plastid transfers (nupts) or organellar gene transfers.

Academic text (2018)
To resolve these deepest branches in the green plant tree of life, researchers have used data from slowly evolving regions in the nuclear 18S rDNA gene and the plastid rbcL (ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase) gene.

Academic text (2008)
Plastids are essential for photosynthesis in green plants, helping them convert sunlight into plastids.
In certain plants, pigments stored in plastids give fruits their vibrant colors, attracting pollinators.

Surface Forms

plastid singular

plastids plural

Morphology

plastid = plast + id

The components 'plast-' and '-id' are Greek combining forms used in scientific vocabulary and do not yield an obvious meaning to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Plastid comes from the Greek root plast-, which means 'to form' or 'to shape', and it is the same root behind the common word plastic. So a plastid is like a small 'formed' part of a plant cell that makes or stores pigments, starch, or oils.