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Are red leaves photosynthetically active?

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Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

At irradiances close to those representing a sunny day, red and green leaves of poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) showed only minor differences in their photosynthetic capacities despite the strong differences in their pigment composition. However, contrarily to green leaves, red leaves did not show inhibition of photosynthesis at high irradiances, because anthocyanins protected chloroplasts from photoinhibition.

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Abbreviations

Chl:

chlorophyll

ETR:

electron transport rate

PAR:

photosynthetically active radiation

PS 2:

photosystem 2

qNP :

nonphotochemical quenching

qP :

photochemical quencing

ΦPS2 :

quantum yield of PS 2 photochemistry

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones Agrarias de Mabegondo, Apartado 10, E-15080, La Coruña, Spain

    F. Pomar

  2. Department of Plant Biology (Plant Physiology), University of Murcia, E-30100, Murcia, Spain

    A. Ros Barceló

Authors
  1. F. Pomar
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  2. A. Ros Barceló
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Correspondence to A. Ros Barceló.

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Pomar, F., Ros Barceló, A. Are red leaves photosynthetically active?. Biol Plant 51, 799–800 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-007-0164-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-007-0164-z

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