Image

Specialised organelles

Chloroplasts (left) Storage granules (centre) Microvilli (right)

Some organelles are found only in some cell types. They have roles that are important to the specific function of that cell type. Chloroplasts (left) are the site of photosynthesis in plant cells, storage granules (centre) provide a storage site for proteins in secreting cells, and microvilli (right) aid absorption of nutrients during digestion by increasing the surface area of cells in the intestinal wall.

Rights: Chloroplast micrograph courtesy of Smith609, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 and Storage granules micrograph courtesy of Alex Kolesar. Microvilli micrograph released into Public Domain.
Published:29 February 2012Size: 321.35 KB