The Relation of Oxygen Evolution to Chlorophyll and Protein Synthesis in a Mutant Strain of Chlamydomonas reinhardi

Abstract

The chlorophyll content of the y-2 mutant strain of C. reinhardi decreased 10-fold during 96 hours of heterotrophic growth in the dark. The development of O2 evolution was measured polarographically during the process of regreening which follows return of a dark grown culture to the light (8500 lux). It was found that the rate of O2 evolution was constant during the early stages of regreening and increased rapidly after 3 hours'' exposure to light. Electron micrographs showed that the onset of rapid increase in the rate of O2 evolution coincided with the development of paired lamellae within the chloramphenicol (20 [mu]g/ml) during the first 3 hours of regreening inhibited the development of O2 evolution and of photosynthetic enhancement but did not inhibit chlorophyll synthesis. It was concluded that the rapid increase in photosynthetic activity observed following 3 hours of exposure to light was a reflection of the development of an active chloroplast structure.