Studies on the Chlorophyll Formation in Euglena Gracilis with Special Reference to the Action Spectrum if The Process

Abstract

The light-induced synthesis of chlorophylls as well as the appearance of photosynthetic activity in the “etiolated"”cells of Euglena has been a subject of investigation in this laboratory. In one of the previous studies of the series (1), we followed the course of chlorophyll synthesis as influenced by various environmental factors, in particular, the presence and the concentration of nitrogenous substances and streptomycin added to the incubation medium. In the present paper, some results of further studies will be reported, in which the influence of light factors was investigated and action spectrum for the process of chlorophyll formation was obtained. The absorption spectrum of the etiolated cells was also studied. From the results of these experiments protochlorophyll was found to be functioning as the actual precursor in the chlorophyll formation of Euglena.