A few enlarged chloroplasts are less efficient in photosynthesis than a large population of small chloroplasts in Arabidopsis thaliana.

ABSTRACT: The photosynthetic, biochemical, and anatomical traits of accumulation and replication of chloroplasts (arc) mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana were investigated to study the effects of chloroplast size and number on photosynthesis. Chloroplasts were found to be significantly larger, and the chloroplast surface area exposed to intercellular air spaces (S _c) significantly lower in the mutants than in their wild-types. The decreased S _c and increase cytoplasm thickness in the mutants resulted in a lower mesophyll conductance (g _m) and a consequently lower chloroplast CO₂ concentration (C _c). There were no significant differences between the mutants and their wild-types in maximal carboxylation rate (V _cmax), maximal electron tran

SUBMITTER: Xiong D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5515944 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature