Plant Physiol. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
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Plant Physiology 59:351-353 (1977)
© 1977 American Society of Plant Biologists

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Articles

Water Stress Effects on the Content and Organization of Chlorophyll in Mesophyll and Bundle Sheath Chloroplasts of Maize 1

Randall S. Albertea,2 and J. Philip Thornbera

Edwin L. Fiscus3,b

a Department of Biology and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024, Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27706

The consequences of drought stress on the organization of chlorophyll into photosynthetic units and on the chlorophyll-protein composition of mesophyll and bundle sheath chloroplasts of Zea mays L. were studied. It was found that the majority of chlorophyll lost in response to water stress occurs in the mesophyll cells with a lesser amount being lost from the bundle sheath cells. All of the chlorophyll loss could be accounted for by reduction in the lamellar content of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein, a rather specific target for water stress. The decreased content of this chlorophyll-protein accounts for the elevated chlorophyll a/b ratios and the reduced photosynthetic unit sizes of the two cell types in stressed plants. The implications of the selective catabolism of this major membrane component are discussed.

2 Present address and to whom reprint requests should be sent: Department of Biology, Barnes Laboratory, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. 60637.

3 Present Address: USDA-ARS Crops Research Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Col. 80523.

1 Research Supported by National Science Foundation Grants BMS 71-01193, A04 to P. J. Kramer, GB-31207 to J. P. T., and GB-02895, OA1 to H. H. Hellmers for phytotron facilities. R. S. A. was supported by an NSF Energy-related fellowship during preparation of the manuscript.






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ASPB Publications PLANT PHYSIOLOGY THE PLANT CELL
Copyright © 1977 by the American Society of Plant Biologists