Mystery behind striped barley solved
(PHYSorg.com Biology)

Plants with green leaves and stems are a common sight and are one of the most natural things on earth. But when considering that this colouring is achieved by small chlorophyll-filled organelles called chloroplasts, distributed within plant cells, where they utilise their green pigmentation to convert solar energy into chemical energy, this green colouration no longer seems to be such a trivial thing. Because of their fundamental role in plant biology, chloroplasts and their ability to colour plants have long been the focus of intense research. Specifically, genetically impaired chloroplasts which no longer or only partially express pigments, are used to identify genes and understand the molecular mechanisms within plant cells.