Photosynthetica 2023, 61(3):297-307 | DOI: 10.32615/ps.2023.020

Strong increase of photosynthetic pigments and leaf size in a pruned Ginkgo biloba tree

H.K. LICHTENTHALER1, E. ABUSLIMA2, 3, P. NICK2
1 Botanical Institute, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry of Plants, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), D-76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
2 Botanical Institute, Molecular Cell Biology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), D-76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
3 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, 41522 Ismailia, Egypt

A 50-year-old solitary, sun-exposed ginkgo tree had strongly been pruned in the fall of 2021. Very few buds for the formation of new leaves, twigs, and branches were left over. In spring 2022, these few remaining buds responded with the formation of a different leaf type. These leaves were 2.7 times larger and also thicker than in the years before. In addition, the mean content of total chlorophylls [Chl (a+b)] per leaf area unit of dark-green leaves was 1.45, those of green leaves two times higher as compared to the years before pruning and the two other ginkgo trees which had been investigated in parallel. A comparable increase was also found for the level of total carotenoids (x+c). The mean content for Chl (a+b) were 1,118 mg m-2 for dark-green and 898 mg m-2 for green leaves as compared to 435 to 770 mg m-2 in leaves of other trees. The higher values for Chl (a+b) and total carotenoid content showed up also on a fresh and dry mass basis. Thus, with the formation of a new, larger leaf type by changes in morphology (leaf size and thickness) and the increase of photosynthetic pigments, the pruned ginkgo tree was able to compensate for the much lower number of leaves and photosynthetic units.

Additional key words: chlorophyll a, b ratio; chlorophyll levels; leaf size; leaf thickness; ratio of chlorophylls to carotenoids; total carotenoid content.

Received: January 3, 2023; Revised: April 29, 2023; Accepted: May 15, 2023; Prepublished online: June 1, 2023; Published: October 5, 2023  Show citation

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LICHTENTHALER, H.K., ABUSLIMA, E., & NICK, P. (2023). Strong increase of photosynthetic pigments and leaf size in a pruned Ginkgo biloba tree. Photosynthetica, 61(3), 297-307. doi: 10.32615/ps.2023.020
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