EFFECT OF LIGHT INTENSITY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC MECHANISM

Abstract

Chlorella pyrenoidosa cultivated under high (artificial) illumination has a low chlorophyll content and a high capacity for photosynthesis; cultivated under low illumination it has a high chlorophyll content and a low capacity for the Blackman reaction. The proportional effects of CO2 conc. and cyanide are the same under both conditions. The rate of growth of the cultures is approx. proportional to the light intensity. As the population density of a culture increases, the average cell size increases slightly; the chlorophyll content (in bright light) increases; the capacity for the Blackman reaction decreases.