Abstract
Measurements of photosynthesis has been mainly carried out through the determination of the consumption of carbon dioxide or the formation of oxygen. However, totally different approach could be taken for the measurement of photosynthesis, since the initial steps of photosynthesis are physical reaction (i.e. photon absorption). The efficiency of photosynthesis is very high but not 100%. The energy that could not be used by photosynthesis would be converted to heat or to fluorescence from chlorophylls. Thus, we can obtain information on photosynthesis through the determination of chlorophyll fluorescence, which can be measured with intact leaves or intact algal cells. This method is easily applied to the field measurement of photosynthesis and widely conducted by the people who are interested in plant, agricultural or environmental research. In this seminar, measurement of photosynthesis through the determination of chlorophyll fluorescence such as PAM method is summarized.
