Photosynthetic Pigment Composition of Higher Plants Grown under Iron Stress

Abstract

Iron deficiency causes a reduction in the thylakoid membrane system in higher plants (1). This reduction is acompannied by a decrease in all membrane components, including the light harvesting pigments chlorophylls and carotenoids, A decrease in the chlorophylls/carotenoids ratio has often been reported (2,3). The reason for this appears to be the relatively minor decrease in xanthophylls, by comparison to the decreases in chlorophylls and carotenes (2,4). The chlorophyll a/chlorophyll b ratio may also change under iron deficiency (5, see also 1), although no significant changes in the chlorophyll a/chlorophyll b ratio of green and chlorotic sugar beet leaves were found by Spiller and Terry (6).