Chlorophylls in dark-grown epicotyl and stipula of pea

Protochlorophyllide, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b have been found with H PLC and 77 K fluorescence spectroscopy in the lowermost (30 mm) section of epicotyls and in the first stipulas of dark-grown pea seedlings. The total amount of chlorophylls is as high as 0.1 mu g/plant but there are also plan ts having only traces of chlorophylls. The amount of chlorophylls decreases steeply upwards in the epicotyls. The middle parts and tissues above them do not contain detectable amounts. In the 77 K fluorescence emission spectr a of the tissues, a characteristic band at 680 nm indicates the presence of chlorophyll a. The amplitude of this band correlates well with the chlorop hyll contents of the different tissues. The amounts of chlorophylls in the dark-grown pea plants correlate with chlorophylls of dissected embryos. The data suggest that the presence of chlorophylls in dark-grown pea seedlings is due to a carry-over of chlorophyll from the embryo via cell division an d not to de novo chlorophyll biosynthesis during dark germination and devel opment of the seedlings. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved .