The effect of chloramphenicol, actinomycin D and 5-bromouracil on the synthesis of photosynthetic pigments

Abstract

The present study concerned the effect of chloramphenicol (100 μg/ml), actinomycin D (30 μg/ml), and 5-bromouracil (190 μg/ml) on the accumulation of chlorophyll α, chlorophyll b, β-carotene and four fractions of xanthophylls (with the domination of: lutein, zeaxanthin, violaxanthin and neoxanthin) in the primary bean leaves. The pigment content was determined in etiolated leaves after exposure to light for different lengths of time. It results from this study that chloramphenicol inhibits β-carotene synthesis more than do other pigments. The formation of xanthophylls and chlorophyll b is relatively less sensitive to the action of this antibiotic. Actinomycin D is also a somewhat more effective inhibitor of the accumulation of β-carotene than other pigments. In 5-bromouracil-treated leaves the accumulation of all carotenoids is inhibited almost to the same extent. These results suggest that the accumulation of chlorophyll b and xanthophylls is a little less dependent upon the activity of 70 S ribosomes in chloroplasts than the accumulation of chlorophyll α and β-carotene.