INDUCTION OF A TRANSIENT ENHANCEMENT OF LOW LEVEL CHEMILUMINESCENCE IN INTACT LEAVES BY ANAEROBIC TREATMENT

Intrinsic low level chemiluminescence of dark adapted intact leaves exhibits a transient enhancement of light emission when ambient air is replaced with an anaerobic atmosphere. Re establishing aerobic conditions gives rise to a complex kinetic behavior of the light emission in the post-anoxic phase. Metabolic changes within the leaf are suggested to be responsible for this phenom enon, where intactness of the leaf is found to be of crucial importance. Leaf homogenate showed nearly oxygen independent chemiluminescence. In contrast, low level chemiluminescence of UV-light damaged leaves and of chloroplast preparations was inhibited by oxygen depletion. Spectral analyses of the ultraweak light emission from the intact leaf indicates that in both aerobic and anaerobic cases, the source of the ultraweak light is the same. The similarity to the spectrum of delayed fluorescence also obtained from the leaf suggests that chlorophyll is the light emitting species.