QUANTITATIVE RELATION BETWEEN CHLOROPHYLL AND IRON IN GREEN AND CHLOROTIC PEAR LEAVES

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Abstract
Chlorotic pear leaves may contain as much or more Fe than green leaves of the same age and on the same trees, regardless of whether the Fe content is expressed on the fresh-weight or the dry-weight basis; but the Fe content of green leaves from trees grown in districts free from chlorosis is higher than that of either green or yellow leaves from chlorotic trees. Lime-induced chlorosis is confined to leaves in which the Fe content is low during the first 2 or 3 mos. of the growing season. No correlation exists between the amt. of Fe extracted from dry pear leaves with water or with 0.05N HCl and the chlorophyll content of leaves. Only part of the Fe in leaves, the active Fe, is effective in chlorophyll formation. A method is described for the estimation of the active Fe in ieaves, which is based on the assumption that it, or its derivative, is contained in the 1.0N HC1 extract of dried leaves. The chlorophyll content of pear, peach, and apricot leaves from chlorotic plants was proportional to the amt. of active Fe in the leaves. The Fe of the compound active in chlorophyll formation is present in the 1.0N HCl extract as ionic Fe or in a compound which readily yields ionic Fe. The values of the ratio chlorophyll/active Fe in leaves varies widely in different sets of leaves; hence, the active Fe is not present in leaves in a stoichiometrical combination with chlorophyll, if it is combined with it at all.
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