HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Izhar, S. Articles by Wallace, D. H. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Izhar, S. Articles by Wallace, D. H. Agricola Articles by Izhar, S. Articles by Wallace, D. H.

Studies of the Physiological Basis for Yields Differences. III. Genetic Variation in Photosynthetic Efficiency of Phaseolus vulgaris L.¹

Photosynthetic efficiency was measured by infrared analysis of net CO₂ exchange (NCE), using single attached leaves of intact greenhouse grown plants. The leaves were sampled as they approached full expansion or shortly thereafter. One or two measurements of the rate of NCE by primary or trifoliate leaves from several plants were used to estimate the photosynthetic efficiency of a variety. The mean from five observations, usually five different leaves, was used to estimate the genetically controlled potential in photosynthetic efficiency of individual plants from segregating progenies.

‘Michelite-62’ significantly exceeded the closely related variety ‘Monroe’ by about 9% and ‘Perry Marrow,’ ‘Steuben,’ and 'Red Kidney' by 22%, 35%, and 31%, respectively. Light response curves for Michelite-62 and Red Kidney were similar, but the net CO₂ uptake of Michelite-62 exceeded that of Red Kidney by about 20% at all light intensities above the compensation point. Light saturations of about 37.7 and 70.0 kilolux, respectively, were obtained with winter and summer grown plants, but the absolute rate of net CO₂ uptake was about the same for the two intensities. Below the compensation point, Michelite-62 evolved more CO₂ than Red Kidney. It was determined that the basis for the varietal difference in NCE resides in the reactions of photosynthesis that proceed in the dark rather than those that are light dependent.

The photosynthetic efficiencies of Red Kidney and Michelite-62, their F₁ and F₂ progenies, and a backcross to Red Kidney suggested that the genetic mechanism controlling the varietal difference in net CO₂ exchange rate is quantitative, that there may be relatively few genes involved, and that there is some dominance for the low photosynthetic efficiency of Red Kidney.

Key Words: Phaseolus vulgaris L. • bean • photosynthesis • photosynthetic efficiency • genetics of photosynthesis

² Formerly graduate assistant in Plant Breeding (presently Research Associate, Department of Botany nd Plant Pathology, Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind.), and Associate Professor of Plant Breeding and Vegetable Crops, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

Received for publication February 10, 1967.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. A. Bassham Increasing Crop Production Through More Controlled Photosynthesis Science, August 12, 1977; 197(4304): 630 - 638. [PDF]