The association of chloroplast peripheral reticulum with low photorespiration rates in a photorespiring plant species

Abstract

A peripheral reticulum occurs in mesophyll chloroplasts of the pentose cycle plantDactylis glomerata L. (orchardgrass). This structural feature was previously thought to occur primarily in the chloroplasts of tropical grasses and other species utilizing the C4-dicarboxylic-acid photosynthesis pathway. Since the peripheral reticulum is seen in a selection ofD. glomerata which has a low rate of photorespiration, but not in a selection which has a high rate of photorespiration (Carlsonet al., 1971), photorespiratory rates may be dependent in part on the presence or absence of a chloroplast peripheral reticulum.