Studies on the Chlorophyll Biological Synthesis in Dracaena sanderiana

[Objective] The research aimed to explore the physiological reason of the etiolated leaf in Dracaena sanderiana,for providing the experimental basis for cultivation and breeding of ornamental plants.[Method] The content changes of the chlorophyll a,chlorophyll b,carotenoids and intermediates products during chlorophyll synthesis in green and etiolated leaves have been analyzed by using Dracaena sanderiana cv.Virescens and Dracaena sanderiana for materials.[Result] The same tendency of two tested materials showed that the contents of chlorophyll in etiolated leaves dropped significantly while the contents of carotenoids did not change so obviously compared with green leaves.On the other hand,the different variation of two materials manifested in the following aspect: the content of intermediates products during chlorophyll synthesis had no significant difference between green and etiolated leaves in Dracaena sanderiana cv.Virescens,but the content of Mg-protoporphyrin increased markedly while protochlorophyllide a decreased in Dracaena sanderiana.[Conclusion] It was suggested that the deficiency of total chlorophyll was the main reason for etiolated leaves formation.The metabolic block maybe emerges in the synthesis pathway from protochlorophyllide a to chlorophyll a,or chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b in Dracaena sanderiana cv.Virescens,but from Mg-protoporphyrin to protochlorophyllide a in Dracaena sanderiana.