No abstract

Abstract. The half time (t1/2) of the reduction of P‐700+ in the millisecond time frame is known to be limited by the reaction between plastoquinol and the cytochrome cytb6f complex. This is considered to be the rate limiting reaction of thylakoid electron transport and measurements of it provide a means of analysing how thylakoid election transport is regulated in vivo. The half time for the reduction of photochemically oxidized P‐700 has been measured in vivo using absorbance changes around 820 nm. The results showed that t1/2 is independent of irradiance and decreases as photosynthetic induction progresses. Even with a constant t1/2 the quantum efficiency of PSI declined as irradiance increased. The significance of the concept of photosynthetic control of electron transport is discussed in the light of these observations.

Following dark adaptation, the response to irradiance of chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence, the light-induced absorbance change around 820 nm (to measure reaction center Chl of photosystem I[PSI] P-700 oxidation), and COz fixation were examined in pea (Pisum sativum 1.) leaves under a range of conditions. Initially, P-700 oxidation is restricted by a lack of regeneration of PSI electron acceptors, and the increase of oxidized P-700 (P-700+) that occurs during approximately the first 60 s of irradiation is largely independent of the resistance to electron flow between the two photosystems. Under these conditions, the quantum efficiency for linear electron flow is directly positively related to P-700+ accumulation, which is in contrast to the direct negative correlation that is the most frequently reported relationship between P-700+ accumulation and the quantum efficiency for linear electron flow.

Mutants of Pisum sativum L. with seeds containing low‐amylose starch were isolated by screening a population derived from chemically mutagenized material. In all of the mutant lines selected, the low‐amylose phenotype was caused by a recessive mutation at a single locus designated lam. In embryos of all but one mutant line, the 59 kDa granule‐bound starch synthase (GBSSI) was absent or greatly reduced in amount. The granule‐bound starch synthase activity in developing embryos of the mutants was reduced but not eliminated. These results provide further evidence that amylose synthesis is unique to GBSSI. Other granule‐bound isoforms of starch synthase cannot substitute for this protein in amylose synthesis. Examination of iodine‐stained starch granules from mutant embryos by light microscopy revealed large, blue‐staining cores surrounded by a pale‐staining periphery. In this respect, the low‐amylose mutants of pea differ from those of other species. The differential staining may indicate that the structure of amylopectin varies between the core and peripheral regions.