Phototactic Chloroplast Displacement in the Photosynthetic Mutant, Lemna paucicostata Strain 1073

The photosynthetic mutant, strain 1073, of Lemna paucicostataTorr. (L. perpusilla Hegelm.) which has a block in the electrontransport chain between plastoquinone and cytochrome f is capableof light-induced chloroplast displacement movements. At 8000–14000 lx, chloroplasts of the mutant move from their positionadjacent to the inner periclinal wall of the mesophyll cellsto the anticlinal walls, i.e. along those walls parallel tothe direction of the light. Light does not appear to enhancerespiration of the photosynthetic mutant or of the wild typestrain (6746). These and other results support the idea thatchloroplast displacement in light is not solely the result oflight effects on photosynthesis and respiration. Lemna paucicostata Torr., photosynthetic mutant, phototaxis, chloroplast displacement