Proc Natl Acad
Sci USA. 1974 Jun;71(6):2414-8.
Composition and
activity of the photosynthetic apparatus in temperature-sensitive mutants of
higher plants.
Alberte RS,
Hesketh JD, Hofstra G, Thornber JP, Naylor AW, Bernard RL, Brim C, Endrizzi J,
Kohel RJ. (1974)
ABSTRACT
Six nuclear mutants of corn, six of
soybean, and seven of cotton displayed low temperature-induced virescence when
grown in controlled environments. For the group of plants studied, an increase
in leaf chlorophyll a/b ratio was correlated with a temperature-sensitive
biosynthetic sequence leading to a reduction in total chlorophyll content.
These pigment alterations were reflected in the composition and quantity of the
two major chlorophyll-protein complexes of chloroplast membranes. Changes in
the amount of the major light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein complex was a
prime consequence of the nuclear mutations. A decrease in the light-harvesting
chlorophyll component of the light reaction centers of the leaf may account for
the decrease in size of the photosynthetic unit frequently noted in
chlorophyll-deficient mutants. Variations in the concentration of the
chlorophyll-protein complexes in the chloroplast lamellae may be causally
related to variations in CO2 compensation points of mutant soybean and cotton
plants.