Light green leaf sectors of variegated Dracaena fragrans plants show similar rates of oxygenic photosynthesis tо that of normal, dark green leaf sectors

Adaptation and functional significance of chlorophyll deficit in the light green leaf sectors of variegated plants are little known. Efficiency of photosystem II for dark and light adapted states (F_v/F_m and ΔF/F_m’) and fluorescence decrease rates (R_fd) of light green leaf sectors of Dracaena fragrans L. were studied by methods of PAM-fluorometry and video registration. In addition, white light reflectance and transmittance of these leaf sectors were measured using an integrating sphere. Absorption was calculated from reflectance and transmittance. Net CO₂ assimilation rates (P_N) were measured using a flow chamber and photolytic O₂ evolution rates (PAYO₂) were studied by a novel method of Fourier photoacoustics which is insensitive to respiration, photorespiration and other processes of O₂ uptake. All the photosynthetic parameters (F_v/F_m, ΔF/F_m’, P_N and PAYO₂) were found to be very close between light green and normal green leaf sectors, whereas chlorophyll content and light absorption were 7.5-fold and 1.47-fold different respectively. Contradiction between low chlorophyll absorption and high (as in normal green sectors) rate of oxygenic photosynthesis in light-green sectors was proposed to be a consequence of different contribution of cyclic electron transport around PSII (CET-PSII) and/or around PSI (CET-PSI) in the total photosynthesis occurring in these sectors. Particularly, it cannot be excluded, that some part of CET activity occurring in normal green leaf sectors may be lost in the light green sectors retaining the same linear (non-cyclic) electron transport (LET) activity as in normal green sectors.