A mutational approach to the study of photorespiration.

A number of quite different types of variant cell lines of tobacco have been isolated. This multiplicity of approaches has been in part dictated by the uncertainities of the photorespiratory pathway. We are in the process of determining the relationship between the observed alterations and the glycolate pathway. The INH-resistant trait has been observed in callus derived from plants regenerated from the original resistant callus and in cone case from seedlings of the subsequent generation. It is hoped that these cultures and the plants derived from them will further our understanding of photorespiration and will eventually lead to the ability to regulate photorespiration and net photosynthesis in higher plants.