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.