Quantitative Mapping of Leaf Photosynthesis Using Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging

A method has been developed for routine, non-invasive monitoring of the topography of leaf photochemistry. The method uses video images of leaf chlorophyll fluorescence, taken during steady-state photosynthesis and during a transitory saturation of photochemistry, to construct, pixel by pixel, an image of the photochemical yield of photosystem II (PSII). The photochemical yield of PSII was estimated according to Genty et al. (1989) (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 990, 87-92). The effectiveness of the method was shown by mapping the heterogeneous distribution of photosynthetic activity after treatment with either a herbicide (DCMU), abscisic acid, or during the course of the induction of photosynthesis. Leaf CO2 assimilation was simultaneously monitored under non- photorespiratory conditions to estimate the average quantum yield of linear electron transport. A unique proportional relationship was found between the mean photochemical yield of PSII calculated from images of the photochemical yield of PSII, and the average quantum yield of linear electron transport in three plant species exposed to a wide range of treatments or conditions. This new ability to quantitatively visualise leaf photochemistry provides a powerful tool to probe the spatial distribution of leaf photosynthesis. Possible errors in estimating the photochemical yield of PSII from mean fluorescence measurements are discussed.