Incorporation of labelled CO2, 3-phosphoglycerate (PGA), phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and pyruvate into hexane extractable rabber ffactions in the cut shoots of guayule {Parthenium argentatum Gray) was determined in order to evaluate the role of photosynthesis in providing precursors for rubber biosynthesis. DCMU inhibited the incorporation of labelled CO2 and PGA into rubber. The incorporation of i'*C02 into rubber depended on irradiance. Enzymatic activities of phosphoglyceromutase, enolase, pyruvate kinase and pyruvate dehydrogenase complex found in purified chloroplasts from the leaves indicated the chloroplast autonomy for intraplastid acetyl coenzyme A formation. The enzymes related to the biosynthesis of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) were associated with both leaf and stem extracts. Rubber producing enzyme activities, námely IPP isomerase and rubber transferase, were abundantly localized in roots and stems of guayule while the leaves exhibited low activities of these enzymes. Hence the leaves of guayule play a major role in providing precursors for rubber formation in stems and roots.
In the temperate haptophyceaen Pavlova luíheri (Droop) Green and Pavlova sp. (not yet estimated) the dominant pigments were chlorophyll (Chl) a (57 %), fucoxanthin (17 %) and diadinoxanthin (13 %); other estimated pigments were p-carotene, Chl c, cA-fucoxanthin and diatoxanthin. UV-A of 1.7 W m-2 had no effect on pigmentation of P. luíheri, but led to a reduction of the pigment contents of Pavlova sp. The damaging effect of a high UV-A dose (11.0 W m'^) was more pronounced than that of UV-B irradiance. The strongest reduction of pigment concentrations of both Pavlova species was observed after an exposure to UV-A (11.0 W m'^) plus UV-B (1.2 W m-2). Under this combined irradiation an increase of the diatoxanthin content and a decrease of the diadinoxanthin content was found.
The review deals with the comprehensive analysis of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) induced alterations in photosynthetic processes of higher plants and possible protection mechanisms. Between two photosystems, photosystem 2 (PS2) is main target for UV- B radiation stress. Depending on the mode of treatment, the oxidising side of PS2 and reaction centres are mainly affected by UV-B treatment. As response to UV-B stress plants develop some inherent adaptive mechanisms which decide the extent of the overall damage.
Carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity and net photosynthetic rate (/’N) in the leaves, and plant dry mass (DM) in twelve cultivars of mustard (Brassica juncea L.) were measured 50, 70 and 90 d after sowing. At different sampling stages CA was strongly associated with PN and DM.
After the formulation of the photosynthetic unit (PSU) concerning the cooperation of 2400 chlorophyll molecules in the reduction of one molecule of C02 by Emerson and Arnold in 1932, the search for a morphological expression of the functional unit began. The quantasome hypothesis is an attempt to relate the structure visible in the electron microscope, the quantasome, and the PSU. The term 'quantasome' was introduced by Park and Calvin as a name for grana subunits. The quantasomes were regarded as the main integral parts of the grana lamellae in the protein lipid layers. Yet it soon became clear that a morphological mit such as the quantasomes did not exist. Nevertheless, the term was still used in various applications till the eighties.