IRON IN THE LEAVES AND CHLOROPLASTS OF SOME PLANTS IN RELATION TO THEIR CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Evidence is presented to show that in plants grown under similar conditions, an increase in chlorophyll content is accompanied by an increase in the total iron content of corn and tobacco leaves. This relationship is also present in leaves of pear trees suffering from lime-induced chlorosis. To avoid erroneous results, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the leaves in dilute HC1. In a typical case, unwashed pear leaves collected from a chlorotic orchard contained 348 ppm. Fe, 82 ppm. after washing with water and 21.6 ppm. after washing with acid. The data show that the Fe content of a leaf must exceed a certain minimum value before chlorophyll formation can occur. This value is detd. by the species and growth conditions. In tobacco an analysis of the isolated chloroplasts indicate that the Fe active in chlorophyll formation (as detd. by graphical means) is localized solely in the chloroplasts. However, other Fe fractions are also present. Fe is present in the chlorophyll-protein complex isolated from corn and tobacco leaves by (NH4)O2SO4 precipitation.