Spectral changes in the fluorescence of chlorophyll during photosynthesis induction

With the help of a light-emitting diode with a radiation maximum at 407 nm and an S-2000 UV-VIS spectrometer connected with a computer, the spectral changes in the fluorescence of chlorophyll from acacia leaves (Acacia sp.) preliminarily subjected to a dark adaptation are studied. It is found that, in the slow induction phase, the Kautsky effect manifests itself in the “compression” of the intensity of the chlorophyll fluorescence spectrum, with this spectrum exponentially approaching the steady-state shape with a time constant of 10–20 s. Once the steady-state fluorescence spectrum of chlorophyll was established, the amount of energy delivered to the upper singlet level is one and a half times greater than at 735 nm. The ratio between the energies spent for photochemical processes of photosynthesis and for fluorescence depends on the wavelength and the instant of time of the induction period. In the steady-state state of the chlorophyll fluorescence, the values of this ratio at 685 and 735 nm are equal to 5.9 and 3.4, respectively.