Scanning tunnelling microscopy of intact D1/D2/CP47/CP43 photosystem 2 (PS2) core complexes and CP43-deleted D1/D2/CP47 core complexes shows definitively that the CP43 subunits reside at the ends of the dimeric core complex. The CP43-removal procedure produces CP43-deleted cores with minimal conformational distortion to the D1/D2/CP47 residual core complex. There was excellent agreement between the X-ray and STM structures for the intact core complex, and between the STM image for the CP43-deleted core complex and the X-ray model with the components assigned to CP43 omitted. and C. S. Barton, P. B. Lukins.
Chloroplasts of barley plants grown under red light (RL, 660 nm) dramatically differed from the chloroplasts of plants raised under blue light (BL, 450 nm) or control plants (white light). The chloroplasts under RL had an extensive membrane system with high stacking degree and disordered irregular shaped stacks (shaggy-formed grana). After 5 h in darkness, dynamic rearrangements of chloroplast architecture in RL- and especially BL-grown plants were restricted compared with control plants. The light spectral quality affected the content and proportions of photosynthetic pigments. The leaves of RL-grown plants had the increased ratio of low-temperature fluorescence bands, F741/F683, corresponding to emission of PSI and PSII, respectively. This increase can be related to specific architecture of chloroplasts in RL-treated plants, providing close spacing between the two photosystems, which enhances energy transfer from PSII to PSI and facilitates the movement of LHCII toward PSI., G. V. Kochetova, O. B. Belyaeva, D. S. Gorshkova, T. A. Vlasova, E. M. Bassarskaya, T. V. Zhigalova, O. V. Avercheva., and Obsahuje bibliografii
We applied the grey system theory to evaluation of chlorophyll (Chl) degradation in Chamaecyparis Sieb. & Zucc. var. formosana (Hayata) Rehder needle-leaf in the Yuanyang Lake Nature Preserve of northern Taiwan. Pigment analysis was finished within 12 h after collecting the samples. Four grey prediction models for the degradation of Chl a, Chl b, and for the change of Chl a/b ratio and water content were established and compared with the results of linear and exponential regression analysis. The residual error and accuracy range show that the grey prediction process is much better than regression analysis. The degradation of Chl a and b contains two phases, one being fast and the other slow. and C. M. Yang ... [et al.].
Total in vitro activity of RuBPCO (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) enzyme was assayed spectrophotometrically by the continuous measurement of 3-phosphoglycerate-dependent NADH oxidation in a coupled enzyme system. RuBPCO activities were found in the ranges 1.01-2.76 and 1.23-3.10 µmol(CO2) m-2 s- 1 in current Norway spruce needles growing in ambient (AC) and elevated (EC) CO2 concentration, respectively. RuBPCO activity in AC needles from the upper layer (U) was 11-15 % higher compared to those from the middle (M) layer, and even 44-56 % higher compared to the lower (L) layer of spruce crown. Over the vegetation season, we observed a highly significant decrease of RuBPCO activity in the EC-U needles from 3.10 (July) to 1.60 (October) µmol(CO2) m-2 s-1 as a consequence of downward feedback regulation. Moreover, this down-regulation was not caused by a non-specific decrease in total leaf nitrogen content. and M. Hrstka, O. Urban, M. V. Marek.
Morphological (dry mass, DM; surface area, LA; leaf mass per area, LMA), anatomical (leaf thickness, L), phenological (leaf life span, LL), and physiological (net photosynthetic rate, PN) leaf traits of the evergreen species co-occurring in the Mediterranean maquis developing at Castelporziano (Rome) were tested. The correlation analysis indicated that LMA variation was tightly associated with LL variations: Cistus incanus and Arbutus unedo had a short LL (4±1, summer leaves, and 11±1 months, respectively) and low LMA (153±19 g m-2) values, Quercus ilex, Phillyrea latifolia, and Pistacia lentiscus high LMA (204±7 g m-2) and long LL (22±3 months), Erica arborea, Erica multiflora, and Rosmarinus officinalis a short LL (9±2 months) and an either high (213±29 g m-2, R. officinalis and E. multiflora) or low (115±17 g m-2, E. arborea) LMA. LMA values were significantly (p≤0.05) correlated with PN (r≥0.68). In the tested species, LMA increased in response to the decrease of the total rainfall during the leaf expansion period. LMA variation was due to the unequal variation of DM and LA in the considered species. LMA is thus a good indicator of evergreen maquis species capability to respond to climate change, in particular to total rainfall decrease in the Mediterranean basin. and L. Gratani, L. Varone.
Quadratic relationship between the age of a tea leaf and the net photosynthetic rate (PN) has been found. A progressive increase in PN was recorded for four months. Then the PN slowly declined, yet even seven-month-old tea leaves sustained a low PN. In a tea shoot, the PN increased from the first leaf onwards. Besides the physiological maturity and proximity, photon flux density (PFD) played an important role in reducing the PN. The tea leaf PN was influenced by cultivation procedures which in turn disrupted the quantum of PFD transmitted through the canopy. and R. Raj Kumar, L. Manivel, S. Marimuthu.
Leaf senescence is always associated with decline in photosynthesis, consequently a loss of cellular sugar. On the other hand, execution of senescence program needs energy and leaves, therefore, tend to collect sugars from other sources to sustain energy homeostasis. This sugar reprogramming induced by loss of sugar involves operation of a complex catabolic network. The exact molecular mechanism of induction and regulation of the network, however, is not fully resolved but the current literature available suggests sugar starvation as a signal for induction of several senescence-associated genes including the genes coding for the enzymes for degradation of cellular constituents and their conversion to respiratory sugars. The late expression of genes coding for the cell wall hydrolases and enhancement in the activity of these enzymes late during senescence are indicative of the cell wall polysaccharides as the last source of sugars to sustain energy homeostasis for execution of the senescence program., B. Biswal, J. K. Pandey., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy