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PHOTOSYNTHESIS---PHOTOSYNTHETIC PLANT CELLS WITH CHLOROPLASTS and basic PLANT CELL STRUCTURE, Elodea (an aquatic plant), 100X. This image shows basic PLANT CELL STRUCTURE. CELL WALLS are very prominent. The Plasma Membrane which lies inside the cell wall is not visible. These cells have a very large Central Vacuole which is not clearly defined. The green CHLOROPLASTS bear a green pigment CHLOROPHYLL which is of primary importance in capturing sunlight and in manufacturing carbohydrates like glucose by utilizing carbon dioxide and water in the complex metabolic process we call PHOTOSYNTHESIS. A few cells show clear NUCLEI. Also, the leaf margins are described as serrulate--these minute spines are actually cells that are cone-shaped like the one shown in this image. These cells have fewer chloroplasts and sometimes show a nucleus. Elodea is an excellent plant for beginning biology students to observe basic cell structure and learn how to use a microscope including making a wet mount on a microscope slide with biological specimens.