Summary
The precise spectral responses of infrared color film permit a rapid qualitative detection of the in situ fluorescence properties of chloroplasts in C4 plants. Fluorescing mesophyll and granal bundle-sheath chloroplasts appear yellow, indicating a predominance of far-red over infrared fluorescence. In contrast, fluorescing agranal bundle-sheath chloroplasts appear red, indicating a predominance of infrared over far-red fluorescence. There is a strong positive correlation between lamellar appression and the ratio of far-red to infrared fluorescence as recorded by infrared color film. The red versus yellow color of bundle-sheath chloroplast infrared photographs is used to separate the 18 species of C4 plants and 2 species of C3 plants examined into two basic groups. This separation is compatible with a separation based on lamellar ultrastructure of bundle-sheath chloroplasts.
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This work was supported in part by NSF grants GB-25579X and GB-41720X and the Atomic Energy Commission, and a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research.
Submitted in partial requirement of the Ph.D. degree. Lynne Elkin was supported as an NIH Predoctoral Fellow.
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Elkin, L., Park, R.B. Chloroplast fluorescence of C4 plants. Planta 127, 243–250 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380721
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380721