Adenylate ratios in the cytosol,chloroplasts and mitochondria of barley leaf protoplasts during photosynthesis at different carbon dioxide concentrations

Barley (Hordeum vulgare) protoplasts were incubated in darkness and in the light at saturating and limiting CO₂ concentrations. The protoplasts were fractioned by a membrane filtration technique which allows quenching of the metabolism by acidification within about 0.1 s and the ATP/ADP ratios in the cytasol, chloroplasts and mitochondria were determined. It is concluded that the cytosolic ATP/ADP ratio is considerably higher during photosynthesis at limiting CO₂ (which is the normal situation for a C₃ plant in air) compared to photosynthesis at saturating CO₂ or darkness.