Action and Emission Spectra of the Luminescence of Green PlantMaterials

The action and emission spectra of the delayed light emission from Chlorella, Nostoc, and spinach chloroplasts have been measured. The action spectra for Chlorella and for spinach chloroplasts are quite similar to the absorption spectra of these materials. The action spectrum for Nostoc, on the other hand, shows a relatively low activity for chlorophyll and carotenoids and a high activity for phycocyanin. The emission spectra of these materials demonstrates that the luminescence is the result of a transition between the first excited singlet state and the ground state of chlorophyll. Low-temperature studies suggest that the triplet state of chlorophyll is not involved at all in the luminescence of spinach chloroplasts. There is some indication that part of the light emitted from Nostoc is due to a phycocyanin transition