Chlorophyll Content of Deschampsia flexuosa Seedlings grown on a Calcareous and a Non-calcareous Soil

Abstract

IT is well known that many plants characteristic of acid soils become chlorotic when grown on calcareous soils. This phenomenon is usually referred to as lime-induced chlorosis and has been associated with impeded iron metabolism of the plants grown on calcareous soils. This communication describes an unusual alteration in the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b in plants showing chlorosis. Seedlings of Deschampsia flexuosa were grown on a mor soil collected from the surface, 5 cm beneath a Deschampsia flexuosa litter layer, and on a protorendzina soil collected from carboniferous limestone ledges where the soil depth seldom exceeded 5 cm. Both soils were sieved and placed in plastic pots. Seeds were germinated on moistened filter paper and seedlings planted one per pot. The plants were grown in a glass-house with additional illumination from Phillips ‘Daylight’ fluorescent tubes. The soils were moistened daily with glass-distilled water. Plants were harvested at intervals over a period of 6 weeks. Chlorophyll was estimated in an 80 per cent acetone extract of the fresh leaves from the optical densities at wave-lengths 645 and 663 mµ (ref. 1).