THE CONTENT AND SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF CHLOROPHYLLS IN SEEDLINGS OF VARIOUS LARCH SPECIES

Spectral properties of chlorophyll from cotyledonary leaves of 20-day- old seedlings of six larch species (Larix gmelini, L. sibirica, L. caj anderi, L. sukaczevii, L, czekanowskii, and L. olgensis) were compared . Absorption spectra of pigments in ethanol extracts and those of leaf homogenates were measured in the red spectral region (600-700 nm); lo w-temperature (77 K) fluorescence spectra of hypocotyls were measured at 660-800 nm. Using a statistical Student t-test, we could not reject the null hypothesis as regards the species specificity of chlorophyll properties. We did not find any significant differences in the conten t of chlorophylls in various larch species or in the optical propertie s of the native pigment complexes in their leaves. The positions of lo w-temperature fluorescence maxima and their amplitudes did not show an y species specificity either.