Photoperiodic regulation of photosynthate partitioning in leaves of Digitaria decumbens Stent

In leaves of pangolagrass (Digitaria decumbens Stent.), the proportion of photosynthate partitioned into starch adjusts to a change in daylength within 24 hours. After a single 14-hour long day, the relative starch accumulation rate is approximately 50% of that under 7-hour short days. This rapid response was exploited to study the light requirement for the perception of changes in daylength. It was found for short day-grown plants that: (a) 7-hour daylength extensions with dim white light (below the light compensation point for photosynthesis); (b) 7-hour daylength extensions with dim far red light (wavelengths greater than 690 nanomoles); or (c) 0.5-hour night-break irradiations with bright white light were all capable of producing about one-half of the effect of a 7-hour daylength extension with bright light. However, long periods of bright light were not required for a complete effect, since a 7-hour shifted short day (i.e. beginning 7 hours later than usual) was as effective as a 14-hour-long day itself. There was also a critical daylength between 11 and 12 hours for the transition between short-day and long-day partitioning patterns. Photoperiod determination depends, at least in part, on a nonphotosynthetic photoreceptor sensitive to both visible and far red irradiation. The duration of the photosynthetic period, as shown in experiments with low-pressure sodium lamps, does not by itself determine the response to daylength.