Palisade cells are
cellThe cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
s found within the mesophyll in leaves of
dicotyledonThe dicotyledons, also known as dicots, are a group of flowering plants whose seed typically has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 199,350 species within this group...
ous plants. They contain
chloroplastChloroplasts are organelles found in plant cells and other eukaryotic organisms that conduct photosynthesis. Chloroplasts capture light energy to conserve free energy in the form of ATP and reduce NADP to NADPH through a complex set of processes called photosynthesis.Chloroplasts are green...
s, which convert the energy in light to chemical energy through
photosynthesisPhotosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
. The cylindrical shape of palisade cells allows a large amount of light to be absorbed by the chloroplasts. Beneath the palisade mesophyll are the spongy mesophyll cells, irregularly-shaped cells that having many intercellular spaces to allow the passage of gases, such as the intake of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis to take place. The stomata is the way in which these gases are exchanged, as well as the
transpirationTranspiration is a process similar to evaporation. It is a part of the water cycle, and it is the loss of water vapor from parts of plants , especially in leaves but also in stems, flowers and roots. Leaf surfaces are dotted with openings which are collectively called stomata, and in most plants...
of water from the xylem, either by the
apoplastWithin a plant, the apoplast is the free diffusional space outside the plasma membrane. It is interrupted by the Casparian strip in roots, air spaces between plant cells and the cuticula of the plant....
or
symplastThe symplast of a plant is the inner side of the plasma membrane in which water can freely diffuse.The plasmodesmata allow the direct flow of small molecules such as sugars, amino acids, and ions between cells...
pathway.
Palisade cells are positioned towards the upper surface of the leaf and contain the largest number of chloroplasts per cell in plants. This makes them the primary site of photosynthesis in a plant's leaves.
They have a very large surface area in order for them to absorb more light during photosynthesis.This makes photosynthesis easier and more chemical energy can be produced for the plant.