Abstract
Abstract Photosynthetic electron transport activities and the ability to generate and maintain a trans‐thylakoid proton electrochemical gradient were examined during chloroplast development in 4‐day‐old wheat leaves grown under a diurnal light regime. Polarographic and spectropholometric studies on leaf tissue demonstrated that poorly developed chloroplasls at the leaf base could photo‐oxidize water and transfer electrons from photosystem 2 to photosystem 1. The capacity for non‐cyclic whole‐chain electron transport increased during chloroplast development. Thylakoids isolated from the leaf base, although capable of pumping protons into the inlrathylakoid space, could not maintain a trans‐membrane proton electrochemical gradient; this ability developed at later stages of chloroplast biogenesis in the leaf. The implications of these results for the energetics of the developing leaf are discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 203-208 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Plant, Cell & Environment |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1986 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- chloroplast development
- electron transport
- proton electrochemical gradient
- proton pumping
- wheat leaf
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Plant Science